
Class A \- 3^ 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



WATERTOWN 



IN MASSACHUSETTS, 



FROM THE 



FIRST SETTLEMENT OP THE TOWN 



THE CLOSE OF ITS SECOND CENTURY. 



^ 



By CONVERS FRANCIS, 

CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER OF WATEBTOWN. 



CAMBRIDGE : 
E. W. METCALF AND COMPANY. 



M DCCC XXX. 






NOTICE. 

Such parts of the following narrative, as were suited to the purposes 
of a pul)lic occasion, were contained in an Address, delivered by the 
writer, on the 17th of September, 1830, in conimeinoration of the close 
of the Second Century of the town. The whole is now published in a 
regular historical form, following the order of time. It is respectfully 
inscribed to the inhabitants of Watertown, for whose use chiefly it was 
composed. C. F. 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN. 



We live at a period of patriotic remembrances. 
It has become the fashion of the times to gather up 
memorials of the fathers of New England. A more 
general interest, than ever before, is felt in tracing 
their footsteps, and in searching their records, i Ins 
feehng is one of the manifestations of the pleasure ^^e 
naturally find in the exercise of that wonderful pow- 
er of retrospection, which enables us almost to ante- 
date our lives, to merge the distinctions of time m a 
sense of fellowship with the past, to overleap the bar- 
riers of years and centuries, and to add to the short 
span of our own days the days of those who have 
gone before us. But besides this, it is our good for- 
tune, that the ties of association with the memory oi 
our ancestors are, in a remarkable degree, minute y 
local. Not only is their general history, m its whole 
extent, so recent, comparatively, that we are able to 
trace it in clear and distinct lines quite up to its com- 
mencement, without being lost in the shadowy re- 
dons of conjecture and fable, but we can identify the 
men and their doings with the smallest subdivisions of 
the republic, with our towns and hamlets. Uur 
whole land, in all its youthful strength and vast resour- 
ces, is a monument to the Pilgrims, who, when hey 
began their cheeriess work, would have deemed it the 
wildest dream of romance, had they been told ot the 
mighty edifice which was to be reared on their labors, 
and who toiled and suffered with strong patience, and 



with a trust in God that never wavered. But, below 
these magnificent views, there are other reminiscen- 
ces, which, if they have no grandeur, are not without 
interest and value. With the names and the deeds 
of our fathers we can associate the green fields and 
the beautiful groves of our villages, the virtues and the 
enjoyments of an industrious neighbourhood, the 
schools at which our children seek instruction, and the 
sanctuaries where we call upon the name of our God. 
Our recollections become domesticated feelings, 
and have a lodgement among our most familiar pos- 
sessions. Our daily walks seem almost overshad- 
owed by the presence of a past generation; for 
their footsteps have not long disappeared from the 
places, which, in the midst of the cares and pleas- 
ures of common life, we recognise and love as our 
homes. To cherish and perpetuate some of these 
village recollections of our fathers, is the purpose 
of the following narrative. 

The character of the Puritans has of late been a 
favorite topic, both among ourselves and in England. 
Its peculiarities have been traced with felicitous skill, 
and its merits portrayed with powerful eloquence, by 
some of the most gifted writers of our times. The 
men of this generation stand in a position favorable 
for doing justice to its claims. We are sufficiently re- 
mote from the excitement, in which the Puritans lived 
and acted, to estimate fairly their excellencies and 
errors, the value of their labors, and the consequences 
of their principles. It cannot be a matter of wonder, 
that two centuries ago they should have been the 
objects of bitter sarcasm and abusive reproach, when 
we consider that their faults were precisely such, as 
would naturally be met with the most unsparing hos- 
tility, and that they themselves in some cases mani- 
fested but httle forbearance in applying epithets of 
infamy to their adversaries. The nature of the con- 
test, in which they were so deeply concerned, was 
adapted to bring out the sharp, stern, uncompromis- 



ing qualities of human character, to confound a zeal 
for trifles with a zeal for essential principles, and 
sometimes to engage the aid of unholy passions in a 
holy cause. We can hardly be much surprised, there- 
fore, at the foul asperity with which Parker, Whitgift, 
Dugdale, and others of that day, spoke or wrote of 
the Puritans, — the poor and pitiful abuse which they 
heaped upon men, who were struggling for sacred 
rights against the strong arm of power. We may 
not conceal or deny their faults ; but, at the same 
time, we may not forget the provocations they endur- 
ed. We may not forget the iniquitous proceedings 
of the High Commission and the Star Chamber, 
those disgraceful instruments of cruel persecution, 
which brought their terrors to bear on the crimes of 
not wearing a white surplice, of not baptizing with a 
cross, and of refusing to kneel at the sacrament. We 
cannot but remember, that the Puritans were goaded, 
oppressed, and held in contempt under Elizabeth, 
who was just as much a Protestant as was necessary 
to make herself a pope, and no more ; that their 
hopes of protection were grievously disappointed by 
James, that notable professor of kingcraft, who had 
said, when in Scotland, — " As for our neighbour kirk 
of England, their service is an evil said mass in Eng- 
hsh, — they want nothing of the mass but the liftings," 
— but to whom the possession of the sceptre suddenly 
taught the bad lessons of intolerance towards all who 
would not conform to that same kirk ; that, under the 
first Charles, measures were dealt to them, scarcely 
milder than those of the Inquisition ; and that the 
second Charles paved the way to his restoration with 
promises to them, which he never meant to keep. 
These and similar cirumstances rise to our remem- 
brance, when we are told of their hard and offensive 
quahties ; and we are disposed to pardon much to the 
feelings of wronged and injured man. For the want 
of that amenity, which imparts a fascinating grace to 
life and manners, there was an ample atonement in 



the good which these men effected by their moral 
heroism in the cause of God, and of the rights of hu- 
manity, — by the spirit of self-sacrifice, with which 
they threw themselves into the pass where the best 
interests of man were to be defended. It is easy 
enough to turn into ridicule their harsh and untracta- 
ble temper, their rigorous adherence to unimportant 
peculiarities, and their extravagance of rehgious zeal. 
But, while these grew out of temporary circumstances, 
and were shared perhaps in quite an equal degree by 
the adversaries, from whom the reproach comes, shall 
we forget that these men sowed that precious seed, 
from which has sprung the rich harvest of blessings 
enjoyed by our community? Shall we leave out of 
the account, that, scorned and flouted as they were by 
the proud hierarchy of their land, they were still the 
trusty guardians of that vital principle of freedom, 
the claims of which have since been so widely felt 
and respected ? The world owes them much ; and 
the progress of time and events is continually devel- 
oping more distinctly the amount of the obligation. 
It is not strange, indeed, that while the prejudices of 
party strife were fresh and strong, it should have been 
said of the Puritan, — "As he is more generally in 
these times taken, I suppose we may call him a 
church-rebel, one that would exclude order, that his 
brain might rule." * But the dispassionate judg- 
ment of England's philosophical historian, at a later 
day and from a better point of view, has declared 
the truth of the case in a memorable acknowledg- 
ment ; " So absolute," says he, " was the authority of 
the crown, that the precious spark of liberty had been 
kindled, and was preserved by the Puritans alone ; 
and it was to this sect, that the English owe the whole 
freedom of their constitution." f 

But the Puritan character is too wide and fruitful 
a topic for this place. Its essential elements were 

* Owen Felltham's Resolves, &c. London, 1677. p. 6. 
t Hume's History, Vol. V. p. 134. 



noble and praiseworthy. It was the form taken by 
the strong action of mental energies, not always wise- 
ly guided, but aiming with untired perseverance at 
exalted objects. At the period when New England 
was settled, the Puritans had for many years been 
growing in numbers and strength.* But the hope 
of rehgious liberty, from time to time disappointed, 
was so far crushed, that at length many of them turn- 
ed their eyes away from home, and fixed them on 
this western region, then lying a mere wilderness 
under the shade of deep forests, and trodden by no 
human foot but that of the savage. The enterprise 
was, strictly speaking, an ecclesiastical concern, and 
presents the singularly striking case of a nation receiv- 
ing its existence distinctly and wholly from religious 
causes, f Our fathers loved their native land with 
fond affection; they had become attached in no ordi- 
nary degree to the soil on whicli they trod ; all the 
charms of domestic and local associations were there, 
— their pleasant firesides, and their beautiful fields. 
They endured and forbore, till endurance and for- 
bearance were in vain. It must have been by i 
strong moral effect, that they could resolve, in the 
cause of what they believed to be religious truth and 
freedom, to sever the ties that bound them to their 
homes, and to seek a refuge on these shores. While 
wind and waves were bearing them onward, doubt- 
less they looked back with the exile's feehng to their 
father-land; and had they not loved the rights of 
conscience and their duty to God better than that 

* lu the reign of Elizabetlj, Sir Walter Raleigh declared in parliament, 
that the Brownists alone, in their various congregations, were increas- 
ed to the number of twenty thousand.— Sir Simonds D'Ewes' Journals 
of the Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. London, 1682, 
p. 517. 

t " Itconcerneth New England," said the celebrated John Norton, in a 
tract printed at Cambridge in 1659, " always to remember, that originally 
they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade." — And 
Increase Mather insists with emphasis, that " it was with regard unto 
church order and discipline, that our pious ancestors, the good old 
Puritan Nonconformists, transported themselves and their families over 
the vast ocean to these goings down of the sun." 



8 

land, the hearts of the stoutest must have sunk 
within them. While they were laying here the 
foundation of a structure, destined to rise in beauty 
and greatness of which they could form no concep- 
tion, they struggled with want and sorrow, and died 
in loneliness, but in strong faith. When we read the 
simple, pathetic, and almost childhke story, which 
they tell of themselves and their doings, we cannot 
but wish that the veil might have been lifted from the 
future, and that they might have enjoyed a cheering 
foresight of the abundant good, that in the course of 
God's providence was to crown their labors. But 
the memorial of these undaunted Christians was not 
forgotten before God. The shield of Heaven was 
extended over the infant colony, till " a little one 
became a thousand, and a small one a strong nation." 

Previously to the time at which this historical sketch 
is to begin, settlements had been made at Plymouth 
and Salem. Of these the object I have in view will 
not require me to take notice. The accounts of them 
are familiar to us, or may easily be had from well 
known sources. I shall accordingly pass to the im- 
mediate purposes of this narrative. 

The year 1630 was distinguished by the arrival of 
Winthrop's fleet, bringing a colony, well quahfied by 
the variety of their occupations, and by their spirit of 
self-denial and perseverance, to form new settlements 
in the wilderness. Among these were the men, who 
first visited the place afterward called Watertown. 
They were from the West of England; and the ves- 
sel in which they came (the Mary & John) arrived 
on the 30th of May, somewhat earher than the other 
vessels. Their captain, in defiance of the agreement 
he had made with them, refused to take them to 
Charles River, and inhumanly turned them and their 
goods ashore at Nantasket. The leading men of this 
company were Roger Ludlow, Edward Rossiter, Esq. 
Rev. John Maverick, and Rev. John Warham. Hav- 
ing been left in this unceremonious manner to take 



9 

care of themselves, they procured a boat from the 
people at Nantasket, and proceeded to Charlestown. 
There they found a few Enghsh people, who had 
removed from Salem the year before, and several 
wigwams. They took with them "an old planter 
who could speak Indian," and directed their course 
up Charles River, till they found the stream narrow 
and shallow, and landed their goods. The bank of 
the river is said to have been steep, and the place is 
described as being " well-watered." It was doubt- 
less very near the spot, on which the United States' 
Arsenal is now situated. As their number was but 
ten, they might well be not a httle alarmed to learn, 
as they did at night, that three hundred Indians were 
in their neighbourhood. The planter, whom they had 
brought from Charlestown, had probably been so well 
acquainted with the natives, that he knew how to 
gain their confidence ; for when, on this occasion, he 
went to them and requested them not to come near 
the English, they readily complied. The next day a 
friendly intercourse took place between the two par- 
ties. Some of the Indians appeared at a distance, 
and shortly after one of them advanced and held out 
a bass. The English, probably understanding this as 
an invitation to a better acquaintance, sent a man 
with a biscuit, which the Indians took in exchange. 
After this amusing mode of introduction, there seems 
to have been perfect amity between them ; and, says 
one of the company in his interesting narrative, the 
Indians " supplied us with bass, exchanging a bass 
for a bisket-cake, and were very friendly unto us." * 

* The narrative here referred to was written by Capt. Clap, one of the 
party, whoso adventures he relates. It is entitled " Memoirs of Capt. 
Roger Clap, relating some of God's remarkalde Providences to him in 
bringing him into New England," &c. This pamplilet, distinguished 
by a pious siuiplicity, is the original source of the information we have 
concerning this first visit to Watertown. From it Prince took his state- 
ment : See Chron. Hist, of JVnv England, new ed. 182(3. p. 277. — also, 
Holmes''s Annals, second ed. Vol. 1. p. 202. 

In connexion with the above mentioned traffic for fish with the natives, 
it may be proper to remark that Bass, which have become so rare in this 
Q 



10 

No permanent settlement, however, was made by 
these men. They remained but a few days, and 
then removed to Mattapan, afterward called Dorches- 
ter, " because there was a neck of land fit to keep 
their cattle on." Hence, that part of Watertown 
where these first visiters landed took the name of 
Dorchester Fields, which was its common appellation 
till a comparatively recent period, and which I have 
heard some of our oldest inhabitants mention as being 
in use within their remembrance. It likewise occurs 
in the earliest town records. Tradition says that 
these Dorchester settlers were for some time in the 
habit of resorting to this place, which they had left, to 
plant corn in the spring and gather it in the autumn ; 
but it is by no means probable, that they would have 
been at so much trouble for what might have been 
had near at hand. 

Shordy after their removal, a permanent establish- 
ment was effected by another company. The colony, 
who came to Massachusetts Bay, " were not much 
unlike the family of Noah at their first issuing out of 
the ark, and had as it were a new world to people, 
being uncertain where to make their beginning." * — 
They dispersed themselves in various directions, and 
laid the foundation of several towns in this vicinity. 

region, were found in inexhaustible abundance when our fathers came 
hither. In a tract entitled " New England's Plantation, or a Siiort and 
true Description of the Commodities and Discommodities of that Coun- 
trey," written by Francis Hio;<iinson, one of the first pastors of the church 
at Salem, and printed in London, Ki.'JO, itis said, — "There is a fish call- 
ed a Basse, a most sweet and wholesome fish as ever I did eat; it is al- 
together as good as our fresh Sammon, and the season of their comming 
was begun when we came first to New England in June, and so con- 
tinued about three months' space. Of this Fish our Fishers take many 
hundreds together, which I have seen lying on the shore to my admira- 
tion ; yea, their Nets ordinarily take more than they are able to hale to 
land, and for want of Boats and Men they are constrained to let a 
many goe after they have taken them, and yet sometimes they fill two 
Boats at a time with them." Wood, in his " New England's Prospect," 
atfirms that they were sometimes taken in nets " two or three thousand 
at a set." p. 39. 
* Hubbard's History of New England, p. 134. 



11 

In the course of the summer of 1630, a party of these 
adventurous emigrants, with Sir Richard Saltonstall 
and the Rev. George Phillips at their head, selected a 
place on the banks of Charles River for their planta- 
tion. On the seventh of September, 1630, the Court 
of Assistants at Charlestown ordered that " Trimoun- 
tain be called Boston; Mattapan, Dorchester; and 
the town upon Charles River, Watertown." * This 
is considered, I believe, as equivalent to an act of 
incorporation. Ten days must be added to the date 
on account of the difference of style ; f and then the 
second centennial anniversary of the day, on which 
this order was passed, and from which we date the 
foundation of the town, will be brought to the seven- 
teenth of September, 1830. Hubbard, the historian, 
seems to have been at a loss to account for the name 
given to this settlement ; "The reason for it," he says, 
"was not left upon record, nor is it easy to find, — ■. 
most of the other plantations being well watered, 
though none of them planted on so large a fresh 
stream as that was." J This last mentioned circum- 
stance probably was the true cause of the selection 
of the name in question ; and perhaps the discovery 
of some good springs, which might have been made 
first at this place, may have had some influence, 
especially with people who are said to have suffered 
at Charlestown by want of fresh water. || There is a 
traditionary belief, that the name is to be ascribed to 
the circumstance of the first company, who came 
hither and landed at Dorchester Fields, having found 
a spring of excellent water in the vicinity of the river. 
But it should be remembered, that the name was not 
selected till some time afterward, and can hardly be 



* Prince, p. 315. 

f To adjust the differences of style, ten days are to be added to a date 
occurrin,^ in the seventeenth century, and eleven days to one in the 
eighteenth century. 

tPage 135. 

II Johnson's Wonder-Working Providence, Book i. Chap. 17. and 
Holmes 's Annals, Vol. I. p. 204. 



12 

supposed to have had reference to this circumstance. 
The Indian name of the town was Pigsgusset. * 

The territory thus called Watertown was, like 
most of the towns at that eaily period, very large, 
and its boundaries on the wesi side for a consider- 
able time somewhat undefined. Waltham, Wes- 
ton, and a part of Lincoln, besitles what is now" 
called Watertown, vv'ere embraced within its original 
extent, f It appears from the Slate Records, that 
the bounds between Watertown and Newtown, now 
Cambridge, were settled in 1634. J We have no 
means of ascertaining with precision the number of 
the first inhabitants ; but I find by the town records 
that in 1636 there were one hundred and eight 
toivnsmen. Probably the original number in 1630 
was considerably less than this. || 

One of the first inquiries in a history so largely 
ecclesiastical, as that of New England, regards the 
origin and formation of churches. The true date of 
the Watertown church is a subject of more perplex- 
ity and difliculty, than one would expect in a fact of 
this nature. It has engaged the attention and divid- 
ed the opinions of some of our most accurate and 
able antiquarians ; and I know not that any thing of 
importance can be added to their statements and 
reasoning. The most recent investigation of the 
subject is by the Hon. James Savage, to whose opin- 

*Wood, on the last pao-e of" New England's Prospect," gives this as 
the Indian name of Watertown. Oiiill)y in enumerating the towns in 
Massachusetts, says — " The ninth is called Watertown. anciently Pigs- 
gusset." Jlmenca, being an Accurate Description, &c. Book II. Ch. 2. 
— The same Indian name occurs once, at a very early date, in the town 
records. 

f A map or plan of Watertown, curious and valuable for its antiquity, 
was in existence a few years ago, but is now lost. It was sketched in 
1()40, only ten years after the first settlement of the town, and was ob- 
tained by the Rev. Mr. Ripley of Waltham from one of the oldest inhab- 
itants of his parish, to whom it had come through several generations. 
This map and a copy of it were unfortunately destroyed in the fire in 
Court Street, Boston, in November, 1825. 

lU:. Kendall's Century Discourse, p. 18. 

II See Appendix, A. 



13 

ion the greatest deference is due, and who makes 
the First church in Boston and the Watertown 
church precisely coeval, assigning the origin of both 
to the thirtieth of July, 1630. In this opinion there 
is good reason to acquiesce ; but it seems difficult, 
if not impossible, to divest the subject of all uncer- 
tainty.* 

The first minister of Watertown was the Rev. 
George Phillips, who continued in that office fourteen 
years. In connexion with the Rev. Mr. Wilson, 
he had previously been engaged, since their arrival 
from England, in preaching in Charlestown and Bos- 
ton ; " their meeting-place," says Roger Clap, " being 
abroad under a tree, where I have heard Mr. Wilson 
and Mr. Philhps preach many a good sermon. "f At 
the first Court of Assistants, held at Charlestown on 
board the Arbella, it was ordered that as speedily as 
might be convenient, houses should be erected for 
the ministers at the public charge. Sir Richard 
Saltonslall undertook to have this done for Mr. 
Phillips, and Gov. Winthrop for Mr. Wilson. Mr. 
Phillips was to have thirty pounds a year, and Mr. 
Wilson twenty pounds a year till his wife should 
come. These sums were to be raised, not exclu- 
sively from the towns to which the ministers belonged, 
but by a common charge on all the people, except 
those at Salem and Dorchester.J They were ex- 
cepted because they already had ministers of their 
own, setded with them, for whom they were to 
provide. 

It may readily be supposed that the sufferings and 
privations of men, who with a noble spirit took the 
wilderness of a new world for their pordon, must 

* See Appendix B. 

f Memoirs, p. 22. 

J Prince, p. 314. On Nov. 30th of this year (1 CIO), an order was pas- 
sed at the Court of Assistants to collect £,60 for the maintenance of the 
ministers, and the portions of the several settlements in this payment 
were as follows : Boston £20, Watertown £20, Charlestown £10, 
Roxbury £6, Medford £3, Winnesemet £1. 



14 

have been severe. During the winter after their arri- 
val at Massachusetts Bay, they were greatly distressed 
by an extreme scarcity of provisions. Shell-fish, 
ground-nuts, and acorns were the only food, which 
many could obtain. " One, that came to the Gover- 
nor's house to complain of his sufferings, was pre- 
vented, being informed that even there the last batch 
was in the oven." * Of the climate some of their 
writers speak very favorably. One of them affirms, 
that " a sup of New England's aire is better than a 
whole draft of old England's ale." Among the wild 
animals, the wolf was a very common annoyance, and 
against him they were obliged to keep special watch. 
On one occasion in the night, we are told the report 
of muskets, discharged at the wolves by some people 
of Watertown, was carried by the wind as far as 
Roxbury, and excited so much commotion there, 
that the inhabitants were by beat of drum called to 
arms, probably apprehending an attack from the 
Indians. In the town records, orders are found at 
different times, " that whosoever shall kill a wolfe 
in the town shall have for the same five shillings." 
In some instances, alarm was taken at the report of 
still more formidable animals in the neighbourhood ; 
and it is not surprising that imagination sometimes 
supplied whimsical terrors of this sort.f 

The sufferings, to which the infant colony were 
exposed at the outset, carried discouragement to the 
hearts of many. The settlement at Watertown soon 
sustained a heavy loss in the departure of its distin- 
guished leader. Sir Richard Saltonstall. On the 

* Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, Vol. I. p. 28. 

f It is not a little amusing at tl)e present day to read the following 
statement, so gravely made by Wood ; — " Concerning Lions, I will not 
say that I ever saw any myself; but some affirm tliat they have seen a 
Lion at Cape Ann, which is not above ten leagues from Boston : some 
likewise being lost in the woods have heard such terrible roarings as 
have made them much agast, wliich must be either Devils or Lions ; 
there being no other creatures whicli use to roar, saving Bears, whicli 
have not such a terrible kind of roaring." — JsTeiu England^s Prospect, 
p. 22. 



15 

29th of March, 1631, in company with his two daugh- 
ters and one of his younger sons, he went to Boston ; 
and after spending the night there with the Governor, 
he proceeded the next day to Salem, sailed thence 
on the 1st of April, and arrived in London on the 29th 
of the same month. In the same vessel Thomas 
Sharp and Mr. Coddington, men of distinction, 
whose names are found among the earliest members 
of the Court of Assistants, returned to their native 
land.* Dudley in his letter to the Countess of 
Lincoln, having mentioned that these and others 
were about to take passage for England, adds, 
" the most whereof purpose to return to us again, 
if God will."f With regard to Sir Richard Sal- 
tonstall, this pupose, if ever entertained, was not 
accomplished. He never returned to New Eng- 
land, though he left his two oldest sons to carry on 
the good work which he had begun. The interests 
of the colony, however, were always uppermost in 
his thoughts and affections. He lost no opportunity 
of rendering them all the service in his power, in the 
mother country. On several occasions he interposed 
his efforts and influence against the misrepresenta- 
tions and false charges of their enemies. When 
Gardiner, Morton, and Ratcliffe, instigated by per- 
sonal resentment, endeavoured "to injure the Massa- 
chusetts plantation by laying complaints against them 
before the king and council, in which they were 
accused of disloyal and rebellious intentions, Sir 
Richard Saltonstall in connexion with others was 
actively engaged in opposing their malicious attempts, 
and gave ample answers to all their allegations. J 
His interest in New England extended beyond the 
Massachusetts plantation. He was engaged in the 
settlement of the Connecticut colony, as a patentee, 
in company with Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brook, 

* WinUirop's New England, Savage's ed. Vol. I. p. 49. 

f Massachusetts Historical Collections, 1st Series, VTII. p. 45. 

t Hubbard, p. 145. 



16 

and others. Winthrop informs us, that in 1635 "a 
bark of forty tons arrived, set forth with twenty ser- 
vants, by Sir Richard Saltonstall, to go plant at Con- 
necticut." * This vessel on her return was cast 
away on the Isle Sable, a disaster wb.ich Sir Richard 
ascribed to her having been detained at Boston and 
at Connecticut River by persons unfriendly to his 
enterprise, and for which he claimed satisfaction, in 
a very interesting letter addressed to Winthrop, Gov- 
ernor of the Connecticut colony. f In the political 
convulsions, which agitated England after his return 
thither, he espoused the cause of the Parliament 
with sufficient zeal to secure their confidence ; for 
when a new high court of justice was instituted for 
the trial of the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, 
the Earl of Norwich, Lord Capel, and Sir John 
Owen, he was commissioned with others to sit for 
that purpose. J Among his services to the colony, it 
may be mentioned that he was one of the early bene- 
factors of Harvard College, and left in his will a 
legacy to that institution, then in its infancy. He 
died about the year 1658. 

The family of Sir Richard Saltonstall was an an- 
cient and highly respectable one in Yorkshire. He 
was the son of Samuel Saltonstall, whose brother had 
been Lord iMayor of London in 1597. With an hon- 
orable zeal and disinterestedness, he gave whatever 
of influence or wealth he possessed to the Puritan 
cause. When, at the petition of the Massachusetts 
company, Charles the First confirmed their patent by 
charter. Sir Richard was named as the first associate 
to the six original patentees ; and when the govern- 
ment was organized before their departure for New- 
England, he w^as chosen first assistant, in which 
office he continued while he remained with the col- 
ony. He was a gentleman of noble qualities of mind 

* Vol. I. p. IGl. fHist. Coll. 2d Series, VIII. p. 42. 
I An animated account of this trial and the executions is given by 
Clarendon, Book XL p. 2413. 



17 

and heart, and has always been deservedly regarded 
as one of the venerated fathers of the Massachusetts 
settlement. His liberal and tolerant spirit in relig- 
ious matters was truly remarkable for the times in 
which he lived, and presents to the eye of the his- 
torical inquirer a trait of character as honorable and 
attractive as it was uncommon. When our ances- 
tors, who came hither to find a sanctuary from per- 
secution, w^ere guilty of the melancholy inconsistency 
of persecuting others, the indignation of Sir Richard 
was justly moved, and he w^rote an admirable letter 
of expostulation and rebuke to Mr. Cotton and Mr. 
Wilson, ministers of Boston.* This letter is a no- 
ble testimony to his charitable and Christian feelings, 
and seems to me scarcely less to deserve the praise 
of being beyond the age, than the celebrated farewell 
address of John Robinson at Leyden.f 

The congregation at Watertown, soon after its es- 
tablishment, was troubled by an altercation, of which 
notice is taken by most of the early historians. Mr. 
Richard Brown, a ruling elder of the congregation, 
and a man of zealous temperament, had the boldness 
to avow and defend the opinion, that " the churches 
of Rome were true churches." In this sentiment, as 
it would seem from the expressions used by Win- 
throp, the Rev. Mr. Phillips concurred. Brown 
probably maintained that the Papal church was not 
so fundamentally erroneous as to render salvation 
impossible within her communion. This concession, 
which we should now regard only as an ordinary 
exercise of charity or justice, must have been ex- 
ceedingly offensive in those times of bigotry, espe- 
cially as it was then made only by the high church 

* See Appendix C. 

t An interestintr acronnt of Sir Richard Saltonstall is gfiven in an 
article on Haverliill, Hist. Coll. 2d Series, Vol IV. p. 155; where are 
likewise notices of his descendants. See also Prince, p. 833; Hutchin- 
son, Vol. I. p. 21 ; Eliot's Biographical Dictionary ; and Winthrop, in va- 
rious places. 

3 



18 

party in England.* The open avowal of the opinion 
reflects no little honor on the Hberality of the elder. 
Hubbard, however, is disposed to give Mr. Brown 
no credit for good motives in defending this senti- 
ment ; it could not have come, he thinks, from his 
" charity to the Romish Christians," but from his 
love of disputation ; " the violence of some men's 
tempers," he observes, " makes them raise debates 
when they do not justly offer themselves, and like 
millstones grind one another, when they want other 
grist." f But we are not bound to receive the his- 
torian's interpretation of motives in this case ; and he 
himself states, that " the reformed churches did not 
use to rebaptize those that renounce the religion of 
Rome and embrace that of the Reformation," — a 
circumstance, which might have suggested to Brown 
considerations in favor of his view of the subject. 
Whatever may have been the grounds of the opinion 
in the mind of the elder, as we may readily suppose, 
it was not suffered to pass without notice and repre- 
hension. On the 21st of July, 1631, the governor, 
deputy-governor, and Mr. Nowell (elder of the Bos- 
ton congregation), went to Watertown to confer with 
Mr. Phillips and Mr. Brown on the subject. An as- 
sembly, consisting of members from Boston and 
Watertown, was called ; and thinking, as many in 
other times have thought, that truth is to be decided 
by vote, they all, except three, declared the arraigned 
opinion to be an error. But the matter did not rest 
here. Brown was neither convinced nor silenced, 
notwithstanding the power of numbers was against 
him. He still maintained the ground he had taken ; and 
in consequence of this, and other complaints against 
him, on the 23d, of November 1631, the Court address- 
ed a letter to the pastor and brethren of the Water- 
town congregation, advising them to consider whether 

* It was <a part of one of the articles of impeachment in the trial of 
Archhishop Laud, that he held the church of Rome to be a true church- 
t Page 143. 



19 

it were proper to continue Mr. Brown in the office of 
elder. To this they repHed, that if the Court would 
examine the matter and prove the allegations against 
Brown, they would do all in their power to redress 
the evil. Much division appears to have prevailed 
among the people at Watertown, on account of this 
and other alleged errors of their elder ; and on the 8th 
of December both parties went with their complaints 
to the governor. Accordingly the governor, the dep- 
uty-governor, and Mr. Nowell again repaired to Wa- 
tertown, and having called the people together, told 
them they would proceed to act either as magistrates, 
or as members of a neighbouring congregation, or as 
having received a reply to their letter which did not 
satisfy them. Of these three modes Mr. Phillips, the 
pastor, selected the second, requesting them to sit 
merely as members of a neighbouring congregation, 
a choice suggested, perhaps, by jealousy of encroach- 
ment on the liberties of the church. To this propo- 
sal the governor and his associates consented, and 
the subject in question was then discussed. After 
much debate and much complaint on both sides, a 
reconciliation for the present was effected ; they a^^reed 
to observe a day of humiliation and prayer ; the pas- 
tor gave thanks ; and the assembly was dismissed.* 

The excitement, however, continued, if it did not 
increase, till it could be quieted only by displacing 
Brown from his station in the church ; and conse- 
quently, towards the end of the year 1632, he was re- 
moved from his office of ruling elder. He is described 
as a man of violent spirit, impetuous in his feelings, 
and impatient of rebuke. But it is no more than jus- 
tice to him to remember, that during the dispute in 
which he was involved, he was doubtless exasperated 
by reproach and severe treatment, and might perhaps 

* For these particulars, see Winthrop, p. 67,95, and Hubbard, p .143. 
There is hlcewise a notice of Brown's case in the valuable " Ecclesias- 
ticalHistory of Massachusetts," Hist. Coll. 1st Series. Vol. IX. p. 21. 



20 

have retorted on his opponents the charge of acrimonious 
deportment. He was a man of respectability and 
importance in the town, and was the representative 
of Walenown in the first and in several successive 
courts of deputies. It api)ears by the Colony Rec- 
ords, that he was "allowed by the court to keep 
a ferry over Charles River against his house. " Before 
he came to this country, he had been an officer in one 
of the churches of the Separatists (as they were called) 
in London, and was much attached to the discipline 
of that party. This circumstance renders it the 
more remarkable, that he should have entertained 
and declared the opinion concerning the Romish church, 
which awakened so much indignation among his breth- 
ren here. He rendered a praiseworthy service in 
protecting Dr. William Ames and Mr. Robert Parker, 
two of the most eminent Puritan divines at that time 
in England, t by carefully secreting them and convey- 
ing them on board their vessel, so that they were en- 
abled to escape from their pursuers. 

The name of Brown stands among the foremost in 
connexion with another excitement, which happened 
in 1634. Mr. Endicott at Salem, in the earnestness 
of his zeal against Popery, caused the red cross to be 
cut out of the king's colors, w ith no warrant but his 
own authority. This was done, says VVinthrop, "up- 
on the opinion, that the red cross was given to the 
king of England by the Pope as an ensign of victory, 
and so a superstitious thing and a relique of antichrist." 
On this occasion, Richard Brown, in the name of the 
other freemen, complained to the Court of Assistants 
against the rash proceeding at Salem. He argued 
that it would be regarded in England as an act of re- 
bellion, and would draw upon the colony the displeas- 
ure of the king and the government. After some 
consultation, the court agreed to send a letter to Mr. 

f For an account of these men, see Neal's History of the Puritans, 
Vol. 11. pp. 69, 96, 280, &c. 



21 

Emanuel Downing, a friend of the colony in England, 
expressing their entire disapprobation of the disrespect- 
ful transaction, and their determination to inflict ade- 
quate punishment. This letter was to be shown, in or- 
der to obviate any unfavorabh^ impressions in the mother 
country. But their expressions were studiously wary ; 
for it was only the impropriety or imj)rudence of the 
act, not the principle on which it was done,^^ that they 
were disposed to censure. 

In February of 1631-32,* an altercation of a po- 
litical nature occurred, which, for the spirit indicated 
by it, is well worthy of notice. It was the intention 
of the leading men in the colony to have made New- 
town, now Cambridge, the metropolis of the Massa- 
chusetts plantation. The project was in a short time 
abandoned ; for among other reasons, it was soon ev- 
ident that Boston must be the chief place of com- 
merce. But while this plan was in prospect, the 
Court determined to erect a fortification at Cambridge, 
and accordingly passed an order " that sixty pounds be 
levied out of the several plantations, towards making 
a palisado."t The portion of this sum, which the 
people of Watertown were required to contribute, was 
eight pounds. When the warrant for levying their 
part was sent, their pastor, elder, and others, taking 
alarm at w'hat they supposed to be an unjustifiable ex- 
ercise of power, "assembled the people, and delivered 
their opinions that it was not safe to pay moneys after 
that sort, for fear of bringing themselves and posterity 
into bondage." For this resistance they were suni- 

* Before the year 1752, when the neiv style took place, there was 
sometimes a confusion in dates, owing to the practice of beginning the 
year in March, so that in some cases a doubt arose whetlier January, 
February, and part of March closed the old year, or liegan the new 
one. This introduced the mode of double dating as above. After the 
25th of March l)oth modes of calculation agree as to the year. In trans- 
actions before the 25th of March in any year, it will be most proper to 
give the dates as if the year began in January. In this way, the date 
above stated should be February, 1632. 

f Prince, p. 390, where the respective parts of the several towns in this 
tax are given. 



22 

moned to answer before the Governor and Assistants. 
They defended their opposition to the assessment by 
statino;, that they considered the government of the 
plantation, as it then stood, simply as a mayor and 
aldermen, who had no power to make laws or levy 
taxes, wilhont the consent of the people. They were 
informed, that they had misunderstood the subject, 
that the government, as it was constituted, partook of 
the character of a parliament, and might therefore raise 
money for the public expenditures in the mode which 
had been adopted. The pastor and his associates 
were either satisfied with the explanation, or deemed 
further resistance fruitless and imprudent. They ac- 
knowledged their opinion to be an error, and signed a 
recantation. In order, I suppose, to make their sub- 
mission the more complete, and to prevent any injuri- 
ous influence which their weight of character might 
have given to their opinion, they were required to 
read this confession in the assembly at Watertown 
the next Sabbmh. But whether their retraction was the 
result of a change of conviction or not, the view of the 
subject, on which they grounded their objection to the 
tax, was doubtless theoretically correct. The charter 
gave the Governor and Assistants nc power to raise 
money by taxation. This power, however, was as- 
sumed for reasons of convenience, perhaps by a sort 
of necessity ; and tiie peojjle, finding it exercised just- 
Iv and mildly, silently arquiesced in the assumption.* 
It is worthy of remark, that in this occurrence we find 
the earliest manifestation of that watchful jealousy 
of unauthorized taxation, which was afterwards devel- 
oped so strongly, and with such serious consequences, 
in the disputes between the colonies and the mother 
country. The grievance complained of in this case, 
like that of the duty on tea at a subsequent period 



* For an interesting and satisfactory elucidation of this point, see Mr. 
Savage's note on the subject, Winthrop, Vol. I. p. 70. 



23 

was in itself inconsiderable. In both cases, the 
opposition was aimed at the principle, which was 
thought to be full of danger, — not at the effects of it 
in an individual instance, which might be trifling.* 

In 1632 occurs the first notice of a fishery, which 
not many years ago was a profitable branch of business 
in the town, and is of considerable importance at the 
present day. We are informed, that in April ofthatye.ar, 
" a wear was erected by Watertown men upon Charles 
River three miles above the town, where they took great 
store of shads." The permission to do this furnished 
Dudley, the disaffected deputy-governor, with an oc- 
casion of accusation against the governor, to whom 
at that time he bore no good will. When required to 
specify his charges, among other complaints of an 
abuse of power, he demanded to be satisfied by what 
authority the governor " had given them of Water- 
town leave to erect a wear upon Charles River." The 
governor replied, that when the people of Watertown 
asked for permission to build this wear, he told them, 
as it was not within his official power to grant it, they 
must petition the Court on the subject ; but since the 
fishing season would be over before the Court should 
be assembled, he advised them to proceed to their 
object without delay, assuring them that the Court 
would doubtless sanction an act so manifestly for the 
public benefit, and that he himself would use all his 
influence to secure their approbation of it. He further 
remarked, as a justification of the proceeding, that the 
people of Roxbury had built a wear without asking 
permission of the Court. f The occasion of the appli- 
cation from the inhabitants of Watertown on this sub- 
ject is worthy of remark. Their crop of corn had 
failed the preceding summer; and this failure they as- 

* Hubbard, regarding only the amount of tbe tax required, implies, 
with an air of petulance, that, as their share was but eight pounds, the 
W^itertown people needed not to have " stood so much upon their lib- 
erty, as to refuse payment." p. 144. 

t Wiuthrop, Vol. t- p. 84. 



24 

cribed to the want of fish, which they used for manure. 
In order to secure a more plentiful supply of this kind 
of compost for their fields, they petitioned for the 
abovementioned privileoe. Tiie use of fish for ma- 
nure was common amons; our fathers, and they are 
supposed to have learned it from the Indians. This prac- 
tice, it is thought, impoverished the soil ; and instances 
are mentioned, in which it is said to have rendered the 
land nearly useless. Whether the opinion be well 
founded, I must leave to others to determine. 

In the difficulties, which grew out of the intercourse 
between the Massachusetts settlers and the Indians 
by whom they were surrounded, the inhabitants of 
Watertovvn had no very conspicuous share. A iew 
instances are related of wrongs or grievances on both 
sides. In March, 1631, Sagamore John made com- 
plaint to the Court, then in session at Watertown, of 
two wigwams being burnt by the carelessness of Sir 
Richard SaltonstalTs servant. The court voted that 
Sir Richard should compensate the Indians for their 
loss. This he did by giving them seven yards of cloth, 
for which his servant was required, at the expiration 
of his service, to pay him fifty shillings sterling.* As 
the injury appears to have been undesigned, this trans- 
action indicates a solicitude to do justice to the In- 
dians, and to maintain good neighbourhood with them. 
On another occasion, one Hopkins was convicted of 
selling fire-arms, powder, and shot to an Indian, and 
was sentenced to be whipped and branded in the 
cheek. Of the danger of such a traffic with the na- 
tives, the first settlers were, with good reason, ex- 
ceedingly apprehensive ; but all their regulations to 
prevent it soon proved inefficacious. 

The only remarkable instance of Indian vengeance, 
belonging to this narrative, was in the melancholy fate 
of John Oldham. Before the settlement at Massa- 
chusetts Bay, this man had resided in Plymouth. 

* Prince, p. 345. 



25 

The violent and disgraceful conduct, of which he in 
connexion with Lyford was guilty at that place, is well 
known.* He was banished from Plymouth, after 
being oblisied to pass between two files of armed men, 
each of whom gave him a blow with a musket, and 
bade him " go and mend his manners." He first went 
to Nantasket, but soon after settled at Watertown, 
and was a member of the congregation there at the 
time of his death. He had either learned wisdom 
from experience, and become a reformed man, or, as 
has been thought by some, his faults were greatly 
exaggerated by the Plymouth people ; for alter his 
removal to Watertown, he was highly respected, and 
was a deputy from the town in the first General Court 
in 1632. He became a distinguished trader among 
the Indians, and in 1636 was sent to traffic with them 
at Block Island. The Indians got possession of Old- 
ham's vessel, and murdered him in the most barba- 
rous manner. The fact was discovered by one John 
Gallop, who on his passage from Connecticut was 
obliged by change of wind to bear up for Block Island. 
He recognised Oldham's vessel, and, seeing the deck 
full of Indians, suspected there had been foul play. 
After much exertion and mana2,ement, he boarded 
her, and found the body of Oldham cut and mangled, 
and the head cleft asunder. Two boys, and two 
Narraganset Indians, who were with Oldham, the 
murderers had spared. This atrocious deed excited 
great indignation in the Massachusetts settlements, 
and was one of the immediate causes of the celebrated 
Pequot war, in which that brave and fierce tribe was 
entirely extinguished. f 

Instances of superstition, sufficiently amusing at the 
present day, are of course to be found in the annals 

* See the particulars in Morton^s JVew En;r;!aad''s Mi.inorinl, p. IJ'2, 
&c., and in Baylies'' Memoirs of Plymouth Colony, Vol. I. Chap. 8. 

t Wintiirop, Vol. I. p. 189, and Hutchinson, Vol" I pp. .59, 7.5, &c. Of 
the combined forces for the Pequot war the iSlassachusetts colony sup- 
plied 160 men, and of this number Watertown furnished fourteen. 

4 



26 

of this period. Winthrop tells us, that at Watertown 
there was (in the view of divers witnesses) a great 
combat between a mouse and a snake ; and, after a 
long light, the mouse prevailed and killed the snake. 
The pastor of Boston, Mr. Wilson, a very sincere, holy 
man, hearing of it, gave this interpretation ; " that the 
snake was the devil ; the mouse was a poor contempt- 
ible people, which God had brought hither, which 
should overcome Satan here, and dispossess him of his 
kingdom." Such pious interpretations were the fash- 
ion of the age, and by no means peculiar to New 
England. We shall be induced to forbear from a smile 
of contempt at our Puritan fathers on this occasion, 
when we lind Archbishop Usher, one of the most pro- 
found scholars of his own or of any times, and Dr. 
Samuel Ward, president ol Sidney College and Marga- 
ret reader of divinity lectures, gravely intimating to 
each other in their correspondence, that there must be 
some portentous meaning in the circumstance of a book, 
entitled "A Preparation to the Cross," being found in 
the maw of a cod-iish, which was sold in the market 
at Cambridge.* 

It seems a very remarkable complaint, so early as 
1635, that " all the towns in the bay began to be 
much straitened by their own nearness to one another, 
and their cattle being so much increased." This is 
said to be accounted for by the government having at 
first required every man to live within half a mile 
from the meeting-house in his town.f The want of 
room appears, from some cause, to have been pecu- 
liarly felt in Watertown ; and on several occasions 
the inhabitants emigrated and formed new settlements. 
The first of these was in 1635, at the place afterward 
called Weathersfield in Connecticut, where, as we are 
told, some people of Watertown, before they had 
obtained leave to go beyond the jurisdiction of the 

* Sec Aikin's Lives of Jcjhn Selden, Esq., and Abp. Usher, p. 317. 
t See Mr. Savage's note, Winthrop, Vol. II. p. 152. 



27 

Massachusetts government, " took the opportunity of 
seizing a brave piece of meadow." This brave piece 
of meadow, it seems, was coveted likewise by tiieir 
neighbours of Cambridge, some of wiiom, being about 
to remove, had fixed their eyes upon this attractive 
spot, and were vexed at having been antici])ated in the 
possession of it. The consequence was not a little 
contention and ill-will. Indeed the Watertown j)lan- 
tation at Weathersfield was a scene ofdissension, both 
within and without. In the course of three or four 
years, the church at that place, which consisted of but 
seven members, fell into such a state of discord, that 
the parent church at Watertown thought it necessary 
to send two of their members to confer with them. 
Mr. Davenport and others of New Haven were also 
called in to effect a reconciliation; but in vain ; the 
dissension was not quelled for many years.* 

Some scanty notices occur, which indicate the condi- 
tion and management of affairs in Watertown at this 
early period of its history. It appears from thetown 
records, that a vigilant attention to the general inter- 
ests of the settlement was required of erery individual: 
for in 1639 it was ordered, "if any of the freemen 
be absent from any public town meeting, at the time 
appointed, sufficient warning being given, he shall 
forfeit for every time to the town 2s. 6d." In the 
same year, it was ordered, that " the two fairs at 
Watertown, the one upon the first Friday of the 4th 
month, the other upon the first Friday of the 7th 
month, shall be kept upon the trayning-place," — an 
intimation that there must have been more business 
in the town, than one would expect at so early a date. 
Soon after this, an order is found in the records, by 
which " the meeting-house is appointed for a watch- 
house to the use of the town,"t and which may lead 

* Hubbard, pp. 177, 307, 314. 

f Here is tlie first mention of a meeting-house in the town. It is 
pretty well ascertained, that it stood on a rising ground between tlie 



28 

to the inference, that it was thought necessary to 
maintain a patrol in the night, probably for fear of the 
Indians. 

Mr. Phillips was the sole minister of Watertown till 
1639. In that year the Rev. John Knowles, "a 
godly man and a prime scholar," arrived in New 
England, and on the 19th of December was ordained 
second pastor of the Watertown church in connexion 
with Mr. Phillips. The peculiarity of the proceeding 
on this occasion drew upon the church the notice and 
animadversion of their brethren in other places. At 
that time it was the custom, when two were associat- 
ed in the ministry in the same place, to induct one 
into office as pastor, and the other as teacher. This 
ecclesiastical distinction, whatever it was, seems to 
have been deemed important by many. But Mr. 
Knowles, as v^ell as Mr. Phillips, was ordained as 
pastor ; * so that the Watertown church had two 
pastors, and no teacher, which was thought to be a 
censurable anomaly. Another irregularity was, that 
at the ordination of Mr. Knowles no notice was given 
of the transaction to the neighbouring churches, nor to 
the magistrates. It was conducted wholly as an affair 
of their own, and by themselves. This mode of pro- 
ceeding was probably owing to a very jealous solici- 
tude to maintain and to manifest their entire ecclesias- 
tical indej)endence. The Congregational principle, 
which recognises in every religious society the right 
to choose and ordain its own ministers (though the 
assistance of others, by a general and laudable custom, 

houses of Deacon Moses Coolidge and Mr. Daniel Sawin, on the north 
side of the road to Cambridge. There was a common before it, which 
was used as a training-field. 

*Dr. Kendal is therefore incorrect in saying that Mr. Knowles 
"was teacher with Mr. Phillips." Cent. Discourse, p. 22. The fact, 
that he was not so, was the very ground of complaint. It is true he is 
called teacher in Palmer's Nonconformists' Mi^morial ; but surely the 
statement of Winthrop (II. 18), and others of the early New England 
writers, is of higher authority with regard to a matter which came under 
their personal knowledge. 



29 

is requested on such occasions, as a matter of courtesy 
and iellovvshijj), was doubtless espoused and defended 
by Mr. Phillips, whose notions concerning subjects of 
this sort were for some time regarded wiih suspicion, 
and who was unsupported in his views till Mr. Cotton 
arrived and gave his sanction to the same principles. 
It is probable, that Mr. Phillips was willing to carry 
his theory into practice, at the ordination of his col- 
league, and |)ersuaded his church to adopt the course 
for which they nere blamed. The right, v;hich they 
assumed, in proceeding without giving notice to other 
churches, appears not to have been generally recognis- 
ed at that time* 

Mr. Knowles did not long remain at Watertown. 
In 1642, in company with other clergymen he went 
to Virginia, in consequence of the earnest intrea- 
ties of some people in that colony, that their spiritual 
wants might be supplied by faithful ministers from 
New England. Mr. Phillips had been requested 
to go on this distant service; but he declined the 

* See the case of the Mahlen church (in IG'J). Hubbard, p. 550. 
With respect to the distinction of office in the ministry, before mention- 
ed, Lechford in treating of the ecclesiastical usaires of the Massachus- 
etts colony has the foUowinij remarks: "Generally, for the most part, 
they hold the Pastors and Teachers offices to be distinct ; the Teacher 
to minister a word of knowledge, the Pastor a word of wisdome ; but 
sofle liold them all one ; as in the church of Watertown there are two 
pastors, neither will tiiat church send any niessengers to any other 
Church-gathering or ordination." Plain Dealing, p. 4. What l^ech- 
ford meant by the word of knowledge and the ivord ofioisdom, as designat- 
ing separate duties, I confess myself unable to comprehend. Proba- 
bly the distinction between pastor and teacher, founded on Ephesians, 
iv. 11., was at no time very clear or well defined. If the one was de- 
voted chiefly to parociiial duties, while the peculiar business of the other 
was to study and expound the instructions of sacred truth, or if, as has 
been said, the teacher's office was principally to explain doctrines, while 
the pastor was to enforce them with suitable counsels and exhortations, 
it is easy to see that their respective duties would be continually running 
into each other, and that, as the line of separation could not be much 
observed in practice, the distinction would soon become merely titular. 
Such doubtless was the case ; and it may be presumed that pastor and 
teaciier sustained towards ea<-h other, in fact, only the relation of col- 
leagues or assistants, with no specific department belonging to each. 
On this subject, see Mr. Savage's note, Winthrop, I. 31, and Hist. Coll. 
1st Series, VII. 271. 



30 

invitation, and his colleague took his place. Knowles 
and his assistants were heartily welcomed by the 
people in Virginia, and their preaching was blessed 
with an abundant success. But the Episcopalian 
influence, which prevailed in the government of that 
province, soon put a stop to their labors. As they 
would not conform to the orders and usages of the 
church of England, they were compelled to leave 
Viro-inia. Mr. Knowles returned to Massachusetts, 
and was again in the ministry at Watertown, associat- 
ed with Mr. Phillips's successor. He continued there 
but a short time, and then returned to England after 
an absence of more than eleven years. Few men 
w^ere held in so high respect for piety, learning, and 
talents. He was a native of Lincolnshire, and after 
having been a student at Magdalen College, Cam- 
bridge, was chosen fellow of Katherine-Hall in 1625. 
In this situation he was employed as a tutor, and had 
at one time forty pupils, many of whom afterwards 
became distinguished as members of parliament, or as 
eminent preachers. In a moment of weakness, he 
suffered himself to join others in giving a vote for one of 
Archbishop Laud's bell-ringers, who had been proposed 
as candidate for a fellowship in Magdalen College, — 
an act which he never remembered, or spoke of, but 
with sorrow and repentance. Some time after, Ibe 
received an invitation to be lecturer at Colchester, 
which he accepted, and performed the duties of the 
office with great ability and success. In that place 
he formed an intimate acquaintance with the Rev. 
John Rogers of Dedham, one of the most gifted and 
awakening preachers of his age.* He was with him 
at his death, and preached his funeral sermon. About 
this time, the schoolmaster's place at Colchester 
became vacant, and Mr. Knowles used his influence 



* This was the man of whom Bishop Brownrigge used to say, — " Mr. 
Rogers does more good with his ivild notes than we [the bishops] with 
our set Jrtwsic." 



31 

to have a person chosen in opposition to the recom- 
mendation of Laud. On this account, the Archbishop 
was soangrj, tliat he would suffer him to remain there 
no longer ; and as his license was revoked, he departed 
for New England. After his return to his native 
country, he was a preacher in the cathedral at Bristol, 
and was useful and greatly respected. Being one of 
the many, who were silenced by the act of uniformity, 
he went to London, and there preached in private. 
He remained in the city during the desolating plague 
in 1665, fearless of danger, and rendered great service 
by his labors and visits in that distressing extretnity. 
In 1672 he became a colleague with the Rev. Thomas 
Kentish, and preached at St. Katherine's. The 
attaclimeit of ]\Ir. Knowh^s to the duties of his j)rofes- 
sion was strong, and unshaken by suffering. It was 
his fate to meet persecution and severe trials, while 
in London; and to the suggestions of his friends, who 
were alarmed for his safety, he used to reply, — "In 
truth I had rather be in a jail, where I might have a 
number of souls, to whom I might preach the truths 
of my blessed Master, than to live idle in my own 
house, without any such opportunities." It is said 
he was so fervent and earnest, that he sometimes 
preached till he fainted and fell down. He died 
on the 10th of April, 1685, at a very advanced age.* 



* Mather (Magnal. Book iii. Chap. 3) and Johnson (Wonder-Work- 
ing Providence, Book ii. Chap. 15, and iii. 11,) have, each in his usual 
style, given an account of Mr. Knowles and his doings. See also Win- 
tlirop, II. pp. ly, 78, 9G; Palmer's Nonconformists' Memorial, ii. 349; 
and Wilson's History and Antiquities of Dissenting Churches, I. 154. 
Knowles's letters to Gov. Leverett in 1674 and 1677, evincing tlie inter- 
est he felt in the colony and in Harvard College, may be found in Hutch. 
Coll. 447, 514. Other letters from him are published in Hist. Coll., 3d 
Series, I. 62,65. — Lechford's passing notice of him leads us to infer, 
that lie was thought to be peculiar in some of his ideas concerning 
ecclesiastical matters: "And also I remember Master Knolles, now 
one of the pastors at Watertowne, wh^n he first came to be aihnitted at 
Boston, never made any mention, in his profession of faith, of any offi- 
cers of the church in particular, or their duties ; and yet was received." 
Plain Dealing, p. 10. 



32 

The mode of supporting ministers gave rise, about 
this time, to some dispute. In Boston, and for some 
years in other places, their support was derived from 
voluntary weekly contributions.* But this was found 
to be too precarious a dependence, and in many |)h>ces 
recourse was had to taxation. The introduction of 
this mode gave great offence to those, who did not 
like to be compelled to pay for the maintenance of the 
clergy. Among others, "one Briscoe of Watertown" 
was so indignant at the supj)osed grievance, that he 
wrote, and circulated privately, a book against this 
way of supporting ministers. This book, of which I 
presume no copy is now to be found, assumed a tone 
not only of argument, but of severe and bold reproach. 
The magistrates thought, that such an offence was not 
to be overlooked. Briscoe was summoned before the 
Court, and acknowledged his fault in the use of contu- 
melious expressions, and indeed in having published 
the book before he had j)resented his complaints on 
the subject to the proper authorities. He was fined 
XCA\ pounds, and one of his publishers was fined forty 
shil lings. t 

* So says Hutchinson, I. 37G. The notice which Josselyn takes of 
those contributions, as lie witnessed them, is loo curions to be omitted. 
After remarking that tiie clergy lived upon the " bounty of their hear- 
ers,'' lie proceeds to the fol'iowing particulars: "On Sundays in the 
afternoon, when Sermon is ended, the people in the Galleries come 
down, ami march two abreast up one He and down the otiier, until they 
come before the desk, for Pulpit they have none; before the desk is a 
long pue where the Elilers and Deacons sit, one of them with a inony 
box in his hand, into which the people, as they pass, put their offering, 
some a shilling, some two shillings, liaif a Crown, five shillings, accord- 
ing to their ability and good will ; after tliis, tliey conclude witii a 
Psalm." Account of Two Voijtcres to jYnv England, p. 180. It is 
easy to see that cases would not be infrequent, in which the " good will " 
would by no means be equal to tlie •'al)ility." 

t Winthrop, II.!>:^, and Hubbard, -4 12. See appendix D. This book ex- 
cited no little commotion. Hubbard gives vent to his indignation against 
Briscoe by saying, that such an absurd reasoner " fuste potius erudi- 
cndusquam argumento." Mr. Briscoe was a tanner ; and the year be- 
fore this dispute, his barn was burnt, which was<leemed a retribution 
for his refusing " to let his neighbour have leather for corn, saying he 
had corn enough." However churlish or unkind this refusal might have 
been, yet surely here was no dignus vindice nodus. But these special 



33 

The disposition to emigrate still continued among 
the Watertovvn people. In 1642, Thomas Mayhew, 
whose name appears very early among the first set- 
tlers of Watertovvn, and who in the year just men- 
tioned was chosen one of the Selectmen (as the office 
was afterwards designated), began the settlement of 
Martha's Vineyard, and removed his family thither. 
Lord Stirling laid claim to this and other islands. 
From his agent, James Forett, Mayhew had, on the 
10th of October, 1641, obtained a grant of the land, 
and he was for many years governor of the island. 
His son, Thomas Mayhew Jr., was pastor of the 
church gathered there. This name is much and de- 
servedly honored in the annals of New England. 
From these ancestors descended the Rev. Jonathan 
Mayhew of Boston, one of the most enlightened theo- 
logians and most energetic patriots our county has 
ever produced.* 

Another plantation was commenced, by some of the 
people of Watertovvn, at Nashaway, which was called 
Lancaster. But the settlement was unprosperous, 
and its progress slow.f 

On the first of July, 1644, died the Rev. George 
Phillips. The loss was heavily felt not only by the 
town, but by the colony in general ; for he was one 
of their best and most venerable men. He was born 
at Raymond, in the county of Norfolk, England. 
Having given early indications of deep piety, uncom- 
mon talents, and love of learning, his parents sent 
him to the university,! where he distinguished himself 
by remarkable progress in his studies, especially in 

judgments were quite common, according to the interpretation of things 
in those days. Another instance may be found in the case of " one 
Shaw at Watertown." Winthrop, I. p. 200. 

*HohTies's Annals, Vol. I. p. 265, and Hutchinson, Vol. I. p. J5I. 
An interesing memorial of the Mayhews is to be found in Hist. ColL 
2d Series, Vol. III. p. 66. 

\ Holmes's Annals, Vol. I. p. 273, and Winthrop, Vol. 11. p. 161. 

X Prince (p. 375) supposes it to have been the University of Cam' 
bridge. 

3 



34 

theological studies, to which he manifested an early 
partiality. He was settled in the nriinistry at Boxsted, 
Suffolk,* and his strong attachment to the principles 
of the old Nonconformists brought him into difficulty 
with some of his hearers. They laid their complaints 
on this subject before Mr. Rogers, of Dedham, who 
gave this honorable testimony of his confidence in his 
highly esteemed fellow-laborer, that " he believed 
Mr. Phillips would preach nothing without some good 
evidence for it from the word of God." As the storm 
of persecution grew darker and more threatening, Mr. 
Phillips resolved to take his lot with the Puritans, 
who were about to depart for New England. He 
joined the company, who arrived in 1630. On board 
the vessel, by his religious ministrations, (as Gov. 
Winthrop testifies in a letter written at that time) 
he " gave very good content to all the company, as he 
did in all his exercises, so as they had much cause to 
bless God for him." Soon after his arrival, he was 
smitten with deep affliction in the loss of his wife, 
who, though an only daughter, had left her parents, 
to share cheerfully and affectionately the sufferings of 
her husband. She died at Salem, and was buried by 
the side of the lady Arbella Johnson, " who," as Mather 
says, " also took New England in her way to heaven." 
The ministry of Mr. Phillips at Watertown was 
fruitful of religious blessings to his flock, and he gave 
himself to his work with unwearied assiduity and 
devout zeal. His church expressed very happily and 
laudably their affectionate respect for the memory of 
their pastor, by providing for the education of his eld- 
est son, Samuel Phillips, who was afterward the min- 

* There is no little confusion in the old writers respecting this place 
of Phillips's ministry. "Mr. Hubbard" (says Prince, p. 375)" styles hira 
an able and faitliful minister of the Gospel at Boxsted in Essex, near 
Groton in Suffolk : but Boxford beiiitr in Suffolk, and Boxsted in Essex, 
and both near Groton,! suppose that Boxford, in Dr. C. Mather is a mis- 
take of the printer." Prince, in correcting Mather about the town, has 
himself fallen into an error about the county, for Boxsted is in Suflblk 
about 60 miles N. N. E. from London. 



35 

ister of Rowley. Mr. Phillips is said to have been an 
able controversial writer. One of his hearers obtained 
from him a written copy of arguments, which he had 
used in conversation concerning the baptism of infants 
and church discipline, and sent it to England where it 
was printed, accompanied with an answer. Mr. Phil- 
lips thought it necessary to take notice of this book, 
and he published a " Reply to a Confutation of 
some Grounds of Infant Baptism ; as also concerning 
the Form of a Church, put forth against me by one 
Thomas Lamb." A preface for this work was written 
by the Rev. Mr. Shepard of Cambridge. 1 have been 
able to discover no copy of this publication, and I pre- 
sume it is not now to be found. Phillips also engaged 
in a controversy, by letter, with his neighbour Mr. 
Shepard, on some points of church discipline. The 
discussion is said to have been distinguished by candor 
and urbanity on both sides, but was never published. 
This subject was one, in which the minister of Water- 
town was deeply versed and pecularly skilful. He 
was the earliest advocate in Massachusetts for the 
Congregational order and discipline ; and his views 
were for a time regarded as novel and extreme.* He 
seems to have been more thorough and decided in 
renouncing the ecclesiastical forms of the church of 
England, than others were at that time ; for he declar- 
ed, that " if they would have him stand minister by 
that calling, which he received from the prelates in 
England, he would leave them." f It is mentioned 

*"Itis said that Mr. Phillips of Watertown was at the first more 
acquainted with the way of church discipline, since owned by Congre- 
gational churches ; but, being then without any to stand by him 
(for woe to him that is alone), he met with much opposition from some 
of the magistrates, till the time that Mr. Cotton came into tiie country, 
who by his preaching and practice did by degrees mould all their church 
administrations into the very same form, which Mr. Phillips labored to 
have introduced into the churches before." Hubbard, p. 186. 

f This is stated on the authority of a letter from Samuel Fuller, the 
physician of Plymouth, found in Gov. Bradford's Letter Book. See 
Hist. Coll. 1st Series, Vol. HI. p. 74. And yet, notwithstanding this appa- 
rently uncompromising spirit, the name of Phillips is found among the 



36 

as a singularity in Mr. Phillips's ecclesiastical conduct, 
that he administered the ordinances to the churches in 
Boston, when their pastor Wilson had gone to Eng- 
land ; for, strange as it may seem, the right of a 
minister to administer the ordinances to any church 
but his own, was at that time so much denied or 
doubted, that Phillips is said to have been the only 
man, who was willing to venture upon such an 
exercise of the sacred office. He was evidently a 
man of firmness and independence, conscientious in 
forming and fearless in maintaining his opinions. He 
was noted for his learning in the original languages of 
the Scriptures, which he is said to have read through 
six times every year, and to have remarked that he 
always found something new in them. It is recorded 
of him, with beautiful simplicity, that he was " a 
godly man, specially gifted, and very peaceful in his 
place, much lamented of his own people and others." 
There is a tradition, that he lived in the house now 
occupied by Mr. Daniel Sawin, opposite the old bury- 
ing-ground. Among his descendants was the late 
Hon. William Phillips of Boston, Lieut. Governor of 
this Commonwealth.* 

Mr. Phillips's successor in the ministry at Water- 
town was the Rev. John Sherman. The date of his 
settlement cannot be ascertained. Our records make 
no mention of the transactions concerning it. We 
only know from them, that he was in the pastoral 
office in the town as early as 1648. In that year is 
recorded a grant of 120 pounds, to be equally divided 

subscribers to the well known and interesting letter written on board the 
Arbella, in which so much of kindness and respect is manifested towards 
the church of England. 

*The most ample account of Mr. Phillips is given by Mather, (Mag- 
nal. Book iii. Chap. 4,) from which others have for the most part drawn 
their information. The sorry muse of Johnson (Wonder- Working 
Providence, Book i. Chap. 23,) has endeavoured to grace his name with 
a well meant effusion of panegyric. Frequent notices of him occur in 
Winthrop. Eliot & Allen (Biographical Dictionaries) have given short 
accounts of him. See also Holmes's Annals, Vol. I. p. 276, and Brook's 
Lives of the Puritans, Vol. II. p. 493. 



87 

between him and Mr. Knowles, who was then associ- 
ated with him in the ministry. Mr. Sherman came 
to New England in 1634, and preached at Watertown 
as an assistant to Mr. Phillips for a few weeks only. 
The first sermon he delivered was on a day of thanks- 
giving, kept by the people of the town in the open air 
under a tree. There were several clergymen present ; 
and, we are told, they " wondered exceedingly to hear 
a subject so accurately and excellently handled by one, 
who had never before performed any such public 
service." Shortly after this, he removed to New 
Haven, and was earnestly requested to settle as a 
colleague at Milford. This invitation he declined 
from motives of delicacy towards the person who was 
already settled in that place. He then, for a while, 
quitted his professional duties entirely, went into civil 
life, and was chosen a magistrate of the colony. In 
this office he continued two or three years. After 
the decease of Mr. Phillips, the church at Watertown, 
anxious to form a permanent connexion with a man, 
■whose services, for the short time he was among them, 
had been so very acceptable, invited Mr. Sherman to 
become their pastor. He returned to the duties of 
the sacred office, and accepted the invitation, though 
about the same time he was solicited to settle in the 
ministry by one church in Boston, and by more than 
one church in London. 

The contest between the king and the Parliament, 
by which England was at this time convulsed, excited 
of course a very lively interest in Nev/ England. The 
feelings, which the people had brought to this western 
world, would not suffer them to be neutral in such a 
conflict ; and they would naturally espouse with 
zeal the cause of the Parliament. One Jenyson, 
however, who was captain of a military company at 
Watertown, and a man of considerable repute, seems 
not to have sympathized with the general feeling on 
this subject. He ventured, in conversation to call in 



38 

question the lawfulness of the proceedings of the Eng- 
lish Parliament ; and for this offensive freedom of 
speech he was in 1644 cited to answer before the^ 
magistrates. He did not deny that he entertained 
scruples respecting the conduct of the Parliament, but 
complained that he should have been so suddenly 
called to answer in public for a mere matter of opinion, 
before any inquiries had been made, or any conversa- 
tion held with him, in a private and friendly way. 
The Court were conscious that they had proceeded too 
rashly with him; but still they feared that with such 
opinions he would be an unsafe man to hold a military 
commission, though he acknowledged the Parliament 
party to be the better and more honest men, and was 
only not quite sure that, if he were in England, he 
should feel authorized to appear in arms against his 
king. One would suppose, that this expression of 
loyalty was sufficiently guarded and moderate, to 
save Capt. Jenyson from the censure of his brethren. 
But such w^as the spirit of the times, that he found it 
prudent to retract even this testimony of allegiance to 
his sovereign ; and after the court had given him time 
lo consider the subject, he satisfied them by declaring 
that, on further examination, he believed the cause of 
the Parliament to be entirely just, and that, if he were 
in England, he would engage in its defence. 

In the year 1647 there occurs, in the town records, 
the first notice of some complaint and difficulty about 
what was called " the remote meadow." Some al- 
leged that their portion of it was not laid out, and 
others that what was assigned to them was bad. The 
remote meadow was probably some tract of land in 
the distant western part of the town, of which a di- 
vision had been made among the first settlers on some 
principle deemed equitable. It is likely that the in- 
terfering claims and jealousies, which are common 
in such cases, caused much dissatisfaction. From the 
transactions at the town meetings, it appears that the 



39 

meadow land was a source of uneasiness, and a sub- 
ject of votes, for several years. 

At a meeting of." the seven men," or Selectmen, on 
the 28th of December, 1647, "Mr. Biscoe and Isaac 
Stearnes were chosen to consider how the bridge over 
the river shall be built, and to agree with the work- 
men for the doing of it according to their best discre- 
tion." This is the earliest mention of a bridge over 
Charles river at Watertown. Till this time, we may 
presume, the stream had been crossed only by ferries. 
It has already been mentioned, that Richard Brown 
was empowered by the court to keep a ferry opposite 
his house. The first bridge was doubtless a rude and 
temporary structure. Twenty years after the above 
date, the land " upon the meeting-house common " 
was ordered to be sold to defray the expense of a 
bridge at the mill, which was "to be built imth 
baskets ; " and the selectmen were directed " to order 
the number of baskets, and the plan and manner of 
placing them." 

The term here used in relation to the architecture 
of the bridge, I have been informed, Avas employed to 
designate certain frames of wood, like boxes, placed 
at regular distances, filled with stones, and connected 
by timbers. Perhaps the term was borrowed from mil- 
itary affairs. At sieges, use has sometimes been made 
of baskets filled with earth, and ranged on the top of 
the parapet. These are about a foot and a half in 
height, about the same in diameter at the top, and 
eight or ten inches at bottom ; so that, when set to- 
gether, they leave a sort of embrasures at the bottom. 
It would seem from subsequent notices, that the bridge 
spoken of in the above extract was not designed for 
the passage of carriages of any kind, but was merely a 
foot or horse bridge. At that early period, commodities 
were transported almost entirely in panniers on horse- 
back. Wheel-carriages were very rarely, if ever, 
used ; and when they did pass the river, they doubt- 
less forded it, as may now be done at low tide. With 



40 

this foot or horse bridge the people were satisfied for 
more than fifty years after this date. It was placed a 
few rods further down the stream, than the present 
bridge. 

It is recorded in 1647, that the town disposed of 
their right " in the palisado that inclosed the woulfe 
pen.^^ I know not what we are to understand by 
" the wolf pen," unless it were an enclosure surround- 
ed by a high and strong defence, into which the sheep 
and cattle were driven for security from the wolves in 
the night, and which was owned and used by all the 
town in common. 

At a meeting of the seven men in 1648, it was 
" ordered that Mr. Biscoe and John Sherman* shall 
mark certaine trees in the highway with a W, that 
shall continue for shade ; and that whosoever shall 
fall any trees so marked shall forfeit 18 shillings to 
the town for every tree so fallen." It is somewhat 
remarkable, that such a provision should have been 
made only eighteen years after the first settlement of 
the place. The example is worthy of imitation. 
There are few things, which contribute more to the 
beauty and comfort of a village, than rows of trees by 
the road side ; and it is a matter of surprise and re- 
gret, that a mode of improvement so agreeable to good 
taste, and attended with so little expense or trouble, 
should be so much neglected at the present day. 

In 1649 a vote was passed to build a school-house. 
Whether this was the first school-house erected in the 
town, cannot be ascertained. Schools had been kept, 
and teachers employed, several years before this time. 
At the same meeting, it was agreed to build a gallery 
in the meeting-house. Before and about this time, 

* The name of this individual appears frequently in the transactions 
of the town from the beginning, and he seenns to have been in high 
repute. Whether there was a family relation between him and the 
Rev. John Sherman, I know not. There probably was, however ; for 
they both came from the same place, Dedham in England. He held 
at different times the offices of captain, town clerk, and representative. 



41 

votes were likewise passed about the mill; and in 
1653 it was ordered that " the mill shall be rated to 
the ministry for this year, at a hundred and forty 
pounds." 

At a public town meeting held in October, 1654, a 
movement was made, though it seems to have proved 
ineffectual, towards erecting a new house of worship. 
It was " ordered by the inhabitants that there should 
be a new meeting-house builded." They fixed upon 
the place where it should stand, and voted to raise 
150 pounds "to begin the work withal." It was 
likewise ordered, " that Cambridge meeting-house shall 
be our pattern in all points." Soon after this an agree- 
ment was made by the Selectmen with John Sherman 
to build a meeting-house for the town, " like unto 
Cambridge in all points." It was to be 'finished by 
the last of September, 1656, and Mr. Sherman was to 
receive for it four hundred pounds, together with 
some parts of the old house. From notices of votes 
at subsequent meetings in 1654, it appears there was 
difficulty or disagreement about the place, where the 
new house should stand ; and at last this point was 
left " to the determination of three of the honoured 
Magistrates," whose decision was to be final. But, 
notwithstanding these preparatory measures, the meet- 
ing-house was not built. The purpose was abandon- 
ed for the present ; but was resumed at different pe- 
riods afterward, till it was accomplished.* 

* As Johnson's Wonder -Working Providence was published in 1654, 
the following extract seems to belong to this place. He describes 
Watertown as " scituate upon one of the branches of Charles River, a 
fruitful! plat, and of large extent, watered with many pleasant springs 
and small rivulets, running like veines throughout her body, which hath 
caused her inhabitants to scatter in such manner, that their Sabbath- 
Assemblies prove very thin, if the season favour not, and hath made 
this great towne (consisting of ICO families) to shew nothing delight- 
full to the eye in anyplace." B. I. ch. 23. If the latter part of this 
description be correct, perhaps it may furnish an explanation of the 
abovementioned attempt to have a new meeting-house ; for if the pop- 
ulation were thus scattered, a great part of them must have found it 
very inconvenient to attend worship in a house situated at the eastern 

6 



42 

In 1662, "the proprietors of the farm lands " are 
mentioned as holding separate meetings for the regu- 
lation of certain affairs of their own. By this desig- 
nation is doubtless meant the same part of the town, 
the inhabitants of which, as will be seen, were after- 
wards called The Farmers, and which is now Weston. 

It would seem that, at this early period, the meet- 
ing-house was not divided into pews, held by individ- 
uals as their property. It was probably filled with 
long and undivided seats, which were considered as 
the common property of the whole town, and in which 
places were assigned to individuals and families ac- 
cording to some authorized arrangement. That such 
was the case would appear, at least, from the record 
of a town-meeting in 1663, when a committee " made 
their return of what they had jointly agreed upon 
about the seating of the inhabitants in the meeting- 
house ; which being twice read, it was accepted by the 
town." At the same time, it was ordered, " that the 
next Sabbath day every person shall take his or her 
seat appointed to them, and not go into any other seat 
where others are placed ; and if one of the inhabitants 
shall act contrary, he or she shall for the first offence 
be reproved by the deacons ; and for the second 
offence to pay a fine of two shillings, and the like 
fine for every offence after." The provision on this 
subject was extended still further, by ordering that 
for tlie future Nathaniel Treadaway and Joseph Tayn- 
ter, with the deacons, are chosen and empowered to 
act in all emergent occasions, to place people in the 
meeting-house, as need do require."* 

extremity of so large a settlement. What Johnson means by placing 
Watertown on one of the branches of Charles River, I cannot tell ; he 
blundered in this statement, and it is to be hoped that he blundered in 
saying the town presented " nothing delightful to the eye in any place." 
* The watchful care of our ancestors to secure the quiet and good 
order of the Sat)bath services from all annoyances, is manifest from the 
following amusing notice, at the same meeting with the above : " Thom- 
as Whitney was chosen to take care that no dogs come into the meet- 
ing-house upon the Sabbath days, or other times of publick worship, by 



43 

Minute and careful regulations as to the duties of 
the Sabbath were enforced from high authority, as 
will appear from the following record at a meeting 
of the Selectmen in 1665 : " The pastor being pres- 
ent, the two Constables were chosen to take care of 
the youth upon the Sabbath days and other times of 
public worship in reference to the order of Courts 
And that a vigilant guardianship was exercised over 
manners and morals is evident from a notice, that 
" James HoUen appearing before the Selectmen to 
answer for his living from under family government, 
and mispending his time by idleness, the Selectmen 
gave him a fortnight's time to provide himself a mas- 
ter ; and in case he did it not in that time, that then 
they would provide one for him." 

In October, 1674, an attempt was made to pro- 
cure assistance in the ministry for the Rev. Mr. Sher- 
man. " The town declared by vote, that they do de- 
sire Mr. Thomas Clark to be helpful to Mr. Sherman 
in preaching of the word amongst us ; and this in or- 
der to a further proceeding with him in reference to 
settling amongst us by way of office, if God make 
way for it." We learn nothing more concerning this 
Mr. Clark, and nothing is said of the result of this 
vote. It is probable, that Mr. Clark did not comply 
with the request of the town, and that in consequence 
of his refusal, the proposal to obtain an assistant for 
Mr. Sherman was for the present dropped. 

In the summer of 1676*^ a very remarkable mortality 

whipping them out of the house, or any that he near to the house at 
such times ; and to have for his pains and care thirty shillings the 
yeare." A severe vote of a similar kind was passed against the dogs 
so late as the year 1746. 

* According to Huhbard, p. 648. But the Rev. John Eliot of Rox- 
bury, in a letter to the Hon. Robert Boyle, places it in ]670. The let- 
ter is dated September 30th of that year, and gives the following curi- 
ous particulars : "There hath been a rare work of God this summer in 
a great pond at Watertown, where all the fish died, and were not willing 
to die in the waters, but as many as could, thrust themselves on shore, 
and there died ; not less than twenty cart load, by estimation, lying 
dead all at once round about the pond. An eel was found alive in the 



44 

happened among the fish " in a great pond in Water- 
town," (by which is meant what is now caUed Fresh 
Pond.) It is stated that they died in immense num- 
bers and were floated to the shore, or swam to the 
shore and died there. Some, in the spirit of the times, 
regarded this singular phenomenon as an extraordinary 
and inexplicable interposition of Providence ; while 
those, who were disposed to speculate about it, con- 
ceived it to be " the effect of some mineral vapour, 
which at that time had made an irruption into the wa- 
ter." Whether this be a satisfactory account of the 
matter may be questioned ; but of the occurrence of 
the fact, as related, there seems no reason to doubt. 

After the Restoration in England, many from what- 
ever cause had neglected to take the oath of allegiance. 
At a town-meeting a committee was appointed to see 
that every one, who had not taken the oath of fidelity 
and allegiance, as the law required, should do so. There 
was probably a general feeling in the colony, that it 
was politic or necessary to remove from themselves all 
suspicion of being unfriendly to the king and govern- 
ment in the mother country. 

What kind of oversight was taken of the young 
people, at this time, may be learned from the record 
of some meetings in 1679. The Selectmen agreed, 
that " they would go two and two through the towne 
to see that all the chilldren be taught to read the Eng- 
lish tongue, and some orthodox catechism, and to take 
the names of all youths from ten years old unto twenty 
years old, that they may be publickly catechized by 
the pastor in the meeting-house." Soon after this, a 
vote was passed to do " something for placing of the 

sandy border of the pond, and being cast into the water, she wriggled 
out again as fast as she could, and died on the shore. An inhabitant 
of the town living by the pond, his cattle used daily to drink there ; 
but then, for three days together, they refused there to drink, but after 
three days they drank of the pond as they were wont to do. When 
the fish began to come ashore, before they died, many were taken and 
eaten, both by English and Indians, without any hurt ; and the fish 
were very good." Hist. Coll. 1st Series, III. 177. 



45 

youth, that so they may be the better inspected in time 
of public worship." A committee was chosen for this 
purpose, and also to enlarge the meeting-house, that it 
might accommodate as many as possible " both of the 
youth and grown persons." This was to be done by 
building galleries in the meeting-house, and twenty- 
five pounds were added to the town rate for that ob- 
ject. It would seem from this arrangement, that the 
children and the younger portion of the congregation 
had distinct seats assigned to them on the Sabbath, in 
order to place them more effectually under the watch 
and care of the older people. The time, when such 
regulations were thought useful and judicious, has pass- 
ed away ; but they deserve to be mentioned here as 
proofs of the solicitude, with which our fathers attend- 
ed to the interests of the rising: generation. 

In the record of a meeting of the Selectmen, April 5, 
1680, the following notice is found : " In reference to a 
late order from Honoured General Court, in which the 
Selectmen of several towns were ordered to make a 
return concerning what was done, or further to be done, 
referring to the subscription to the New College, 
Deacon Henry Bright and William Bond were by the 
Selectmen appointed to go down to Boston to make 
said return." The sum contributed by Watertown 
was £41. 16s. 3d. "The New College" must have 
been the edifice called Harvard, which stood on the 
spot where the building now bearing that name stands, 
and was built in 1672 by contribution from the differ- 
ent towns in the colony. If the record refers to this 
contribution, however, it is strange that it should be 
so late as eight years after the erection of the college. 

The growing infirmities of the Rev. Mr. Sherman 
again turned the attention of the town to the subject of 
procuringassistancefor him. InNovember, 1680,11 was 
voted, "in regard of the bodily weakness that is upon 
pastor Sherman, that he stands in need of a'helper to car- 
ry on the work of the ministry." It is not mentioned 



46 

that any measures were taken to obtain the proposed 
help till November, 1684, when the town agreed to em- 
ploy for this purpose one of three, whose names were 
s|)ecified ; Mr. Cotton, Mr. Leavitt, and Mr. Brattle.* 
The first application was to be made to Mr. Cotton, and 
" the utmost endeavours were to be used to gain him." 
Whether the. application was actually made to him, or 
to either of the three, or, if made, was successful, we 
are not told. It appears however, that assistance was 
obtained for the pastor, since money was appropriated 
to defray the expenses for that purpose. 

But all further provision of this kind was soon ren- 
dered unnecessary by the death of the Rev. Mr. Sher- 
man. He was seized with a severe illness at Sudbury, 
where he preached his last sermon from Ephesians ii. 8. 
He recovered from the first attack sufficiently to be 
able to reach home. But his disease, which was an 
intermitting fever, returned with violence, and he ex- 
pired on the 8th of August, 1685, aged nearly seventy- 
two years. 

It is but justice to say, that a tribute of high praise 
is due to the memory of Mr. Sherman. Few divines, 
in the early history of New England, were so eminent- 
ly distinguished by intellectual gifts and Christian 
graces. He was born December 26, 1613, in Dedham, 
in the county of Essex, England. The parental influence 
under which his first years were passed, implanted and 
strengthened the principle of piety in his breast ; and 
he received deep religious impressions, at an early pe- 
riod, from the ministry of the celebrated John Rogers, 
whose friendship he, as well as his two predecessors 
in the ministry at Watertown, possessed and prized 
highly. It is related, that he was never chastised at 

* This Mr. Brattle, I suppose to be the same, who was graduated at 
Harvard CoUeore in 1680, and was ordained in 1096 pastor of the Cam- 
bridge rhurch, (See Hist, of Cambridofe, in Hist. Coll. Jst Series, VH. 55.) 
Two persons of the name of Joiin Cotton appear in tlie College Cata- 
logue, in 1678 and in 1681, both clergymen ; and one of these was prob- 
ably the person abovementioncd. Of Mr. Leavitt I have met with no 
notice. 



'47 

school but once, and then it was " forgiving the heads 
of sermons to his idle school-mates, when an account 
thereof was demanded from them." He was educated 
at Emanuel College, Cambridge, but received no de- 
gree, because conscientious scruples compelled him to 
refuse conipliance with the required subscription. This 
refusal appears to have been the result of a faithful and 
anxious consideration of the subject. The consequence 
was, that he retired from the University *^ under the 
persecuted character of a College Puritan.^^ He soon 
left England, and sought an asylum in the western 
world. When he came to New England (1634), he 
was but twenty-one years of age ; but, young as he 
was, his eloquent preaching and powerful mind gave 
him a very high reputation, insomuch that when he 
was at New Haven, Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, the 
clergymen of Hartford, said in an assembly of minis- 
ters, before whom Sherman had preached, "Brethren, 
we must look to ourselves and our ministry, for this 
young divine will outdo us all." 

After his settlement at Wateriown, he maintained 
fully the distinguished rank which he had before ac- 
quired, and was considered a great blessing to his peo- 
ple and to the neighbouring churches. He was chosen 
fellow of the corporation of Harvard College, and ren- 
dered various and important services to that institution. 
Once a fortnight he gave lectures, which were attend- 
ed by the students of the College, who walked from 
Cambridge to Watertown to hear him, and by many 
other persons from the vicinity. These lectures he 
continued for thirty years, and they were regarded as 
peculiarly able and valuable. Mr. Sherman improved 
the powers of his mind, naturally strong and penetrat- 
ing, by profound and indefatigable study. His philo- 
logical learning is reported to have been much beyond 
the usual attaiimients even of such as were considered 
good scholars. But his favorite studies, out of his pro- 
fessional course, were the mathematical and astronomi- 



48 

cal sciences. In these pursuits he was the first man 
in the country, at that time.* He left many astronom- 
ical calculations in manuscript, which were never pub- 
lished. So desirous was he of being useful, that he 
sometimes undertook the humble task of preparing 
almanacs for the community. In these he inserted 
pious and pertinent reflections, instead of that frivolous 
and useless matter with which these publications are 
so often filled. t The study of the exact sciences, on 
which he bestowed so much attention, while it sharp- 
ened his powers of reasoning and discrimination, did 
not impair the energy or eloquence of his preaching. 
His sermons are said to have been so distinguished by 
the beauties of a rich and fervid imagination, and by an 
unaffected and impressive loftiness of style, that he 
was commonly called " the golden-mouthed preacher." 
Though his discourses were frequently extemporaneous, 
they were always well arranged and full of thought. 
Being a devout and unwearied student of the Scriptures, 
his public instructions enlightened the minds as well 
as warmed the hearts of his hearers. In conversation 
it was his habit to say but little. But what he said 
W'as pointed, and likely to be remembered ; and when 
he was told by his more loquacious companions, that 
he had learned the art of silence, he sometimes advised 
them to attend more to that art themselves. So strong 
was his memory, that his own mind, it was said, 



* We are not informed what were the subjects of Mr. Sherman's lec- 
tures to the students of the College ; but it is probable, they were con- 
nected with the studies, to which he was so partial, and in which he 
became so distinguished. 

f The following is a specimen of these reflections : — "Let me entreat 
one thing of thee, and I will adventure to promise thee a good year ; 
the request is in itself reasonable, and may be to thee eternally profit- 
able. It is only this ; duly to prize and diligently to improve time, for 
obtaining the blessed end it was given for, and is yet graciously con- 
tinued unto thee by the eternal God. Of three hundred and sixty- 
five days allowed by the making up of this year, which shall be thy 
last, thou knowestnot ; but that any of tliem may be it, thou oughtest 
to know, and so consider, that thou may est pass the time of thy sojouro- 
ing here with fear." 



49 

became his library ; and so highly respected was his 
judgment, that when he was consulted, as he very 
frequently was, his opinion was generally considered 
final. His mental powers remained vigorous and keen 
to the time of his death ; and his last discourse was 
listened to with admiration for its richness of thought 
and energy of language. When tiie reforming synod, 
as it was called, convened at Boston, in September, 
1679, he was one of the joint moderators of that body 
during the greater part of the session. In 1682 he 
preached the sermon before the convention of Con- 
gregational Ministers in Massachusetts ; and this is 
the first sermon on that occasion, now upon record.* 

Mr. Sherman was the father of twenty-six children 
in two marriages ; six in the first,'and twenty in the 
other. His second wife was grandaughtcr of the Earl 
of Rivers, whose family belonged to the Roman Cath- 
olic party in England. f Her mother, daughter of the 
Earl of Rivers, was married to Mr. Launce, a Puritan 
gentleman, and was herself a Puritan, though of a Pop- 
ish family. The lady, to whom Mr. Sherman was 
married, was at that time under the guardianship of 
Gov. Hopkins of Connecticut. She survived her hus- 
band many years. J Among the descendants of this 
minister of Watertown, the Hon. Roger Sherman, one 
of the memorable committee who drew up and report- 

* See a list of the preachers in the " Historical Sketch of the Conven- 
tion," c. p. 30, 

f Clarendon relates that the house of the Countess of Rivers, near 
Colchester, was plundered in 1642 by the rabble, on account of her 
being a Papist. Vol. III. p. 1086. 

I Sirs. Sherman died in 1710; and in the town record of that year is 
the following notice of her funeral: "The selectmen being informed 
that Mrs. Mary Sherman is deceased, being' the widow of the Reverend 
pastor Sherman, who was the pastor of the town for many years, from a 
sense of the honour and respect the town had to their Reverend Pastor 
and his widow since his decease, and to express the same in this their 
last office of love, do order that Capt. Jonas Bond, Esq., who is one of 
the said Selectmen, do provide wine and gloves sufficient for said fune- 
ral at the town's cost, not exceeding the sum of ten pounds, and Mr. 
Bond to be seasonably repayed out of the present town rate." 

7 



50 

ed the Declaration of Independence, has sometimes 
been erroneously reckoned. That distinguished patriot 
descended from Capt. John Sherman, who came from 
Dedham, England, and settled in Watertown in 1635, 
and who, as has been already mentioned, was probably 
a relative of the minister.* 

Mr. Sherman was succeeded by the Rev. John 
Bailey, with whom his brother, Thomas Bailey, was 
for a while associated. One of these brothers, about 
two months before Mr. Sherman's death, had been 
invited to become his assistant ; but whether he came 
to Watertown at that time does not appear. A com- 
mittee was chosen at a town meeting on the 24th of 
August, 1685, to treat with "Mr. Bailey the elder," 
j. e. Mr. John Bailey, on the subject of settling in the 
ministry at Watertown. Subsequently to this, there 
was much debate about procuring a residence for the 
expected clergyman. It was proposed to build a par- 
sonage ; but the report of the committee, appointed to 
select a place for this purpose, was not accepted. The 
next proposal was to hire a house for the minister ; 
and the persons, to whom that business was entrusted, 
found a suitable one. But neither does this step seem 
to have given satisfaction. A vote was then passed, 
" that if a number of persons would build a conven- 
ient house to entertain the minister in near to the 
meeting-house, the town would pay them that build it 
rent for the said house, until the town do agree and 
have actually removed this meeting-house, or built 
another in the room of this, more convenient for the 
inhabitants, somewhere else where the town shall 
agree upon." From this vote, it would seem that 
the difficulty in procuring a dwelling for the clergy- 

*Mather has furnished the most elaborate account of the Rev. Mr. 
Sherman, (Magnal. Book iii. Chap. 29.) See also Brook's Lives of the 
Puritans, III. 482, and Eliot's and Allen's Biog-raphical Dictionaries. 
Allen has committed the error of making Mr. Gibbs the successor to Mr. 
Sherman in the ministry at Watertown. See Appendix E. 



51 

man was connected with a proposal, then under 
discussion, for a new place of worship. This subject, 
as we have seen, had been before the town in 1654; 
it was now revived, but was again set aside for the 
present. 

The proceedings relative to the settlement of Mr. 
John Bailey are stated, in the town records, with 
considerable exactness. He 'was requested, through 
a committee, to give the town an opportunity, at a 
general meeting of the inhabitants, " to discourse a 
little with him " on the subject. He complied with 
the request ; and a meeting of the people was called, 
at which certain persons were designated by vote 
" to discourse with Mr. Bailey." At ihis conference, 
he declared himself ready and willing to become their 
minister, " if peace and love should continue amongst 
them, and they would make his life comfortable." 
Soon after, the town jnovided means to remove him 
and his family from Boston, where he then resided, 
to Watertown. In the month of August a call was 
formally given him " at a general town meeting," 
which he accepted, and was ordained October 6th, 
1686.* Within a month after this date, measures 

* In Judge Sewall's manuscript Journal is the following record : "July 
25, 168G, Mr. John Bayley preaclies his farewell sermon, and goes the 
28th to Watertown. Oct. G, Mr. Bayley ordained at Wateilown. Mr. 
Bayley not ordained as congregational men are." The informality on 
this occasion, to which Judge Sewall alludes in the last sentence, was, 
I presume, the omission of " the laying on of hands," a circumstance 
which intimates that Mr. Bailey regarded his previous ordination in 
England as valid, and therefore did not think it necess^ay to have the 
token of consecration to the sacred office renewed. This circumstance 
Mr. Bailey has himself mentioned in the following notice found in hia 
book of records, in which, it will be observed, he does not call the cer- 
emony of his induction into office at Watertown an ordination : "Upon 
the 6th of October, 1686,1 was solemnly set apart for the pastoral work 
at Watertown, ivilhoiit the imposition of hatids. I am sick of it, and 
unfit for it ; but the many particulars that attended this work I wholly 
omit." These last expressions indicate the feeling of dread and re- 
sponsibleness, with which this good man entered on his work. On this 
occasion, he preached the sermon himself from 2 Cor. ii. 16. compared 
with 2. Cor. xii. 9. The manuscript of this sermon I have seen ; from 
the commencement of it we should infer that he was settled as ateacher, 
not as pastor ; it is as follows : ''• Some otlier Scriptures I had thought 



32 

were taken to procure his brother to be his assistant, 
it being dechued, " with a very full vole, that the town 
did earnestly desire that they might enjoy Mr. Bailey 
the younger to be helpful to his brother in the minis- 
try." Indeed, before this time, the same desire had 
been expressed. Mr. Thomas Bailey delayed his 
acceptance of this invitation for a considerable time, 
if we may judge from the date of his first coming to 
reside at VVatertown, which was November 2d, 1687. 
But it is not unlikely, that he had before this, while 
living in Boston, acted as assistant to his brother. 
His ministry was of short duration. He died January 
21st, 1688-9, aged 33 years, and was interred in the 
old burying ground in Watertown, where a humble 
monument now stands over his grave. His brother 
John, in his diary, says of him, " He died well, which 
is a great word, — so sweetly as I never saw the like 
before." * 

We learn from our records, that the mode of sup- 
porting the public school at this time was somewhat 
different from the present. The salary of the school- 
master was twenty pounds. Every person who sent 
children to the shool, was required to pay three pence 
a week for each child he sent; and whatever was 
wanting of the teacher's stipend from this source was 
made up by a payment from the town. 

When in consequence of the troubles resulting from 
the government of Sir Edmund Andros, a meeting of 
representatives from all the towns in the colony was 
called at Boston, each town was required to give 

to have given you, and partly had in my thoughts begun ; as that in 
Zech. ii. 7. and that in 2 Cor. v. 20. But tho' these might better suit 
others, yet the words I have read do best suit myself; a pastoral work 
being alwaies dreaded by me, I could never get inclined to it, nor ever 
looked upon myself as fit for it." 

* Scarcely any thing worthy of special notice is recorded of Thomas 
Bailey. Some of his writings are preserved, in manuscript, in the cab- 
inet of the Massachusetts Historical Society. They consist of Latin 
odes, or poems in various kinds of measure, and verses on the Gun- 
powder Plot in his own hand-writing, dated November 5th, 1669. 



53 

instructions to its members, whether to vote for 
reassuming the charter or not.* The people of Water- 
town chose two representatives to appear for them at 
this meeting on the 22d of May, 1689, and instructed 
them to maintain " the charter rights," and to agree 
to the declaration set forth at a previous meeting of 
representatives, till further orders should be received 
from the English Government. The same course 
was taken by a large majority of the towns on this 
occasion. The alarm, spread through the colony at 
this time, was however soon quieted by the change 
which took place in affairs, w hen William and Mary 
ascended the British throne. 

October 14th, 1690, the town voted to request Mr. 
Henry Gibbs to be an assistant in the work of the 
ministry, Mr. Bailey being by the death of his brother 
now left alone. In the application to procure this 
assistance, they say, " in this time of our great want, 
that the town might not be destitute of one to admin- 
ister the word and ordinances of Christ among us." 
These expressions lead us to suppose that the labors 
of Mr. Bailey must have been frequently interrupted 
by ill health, or some other cause, and the town con- 
sequently left destitute of pastoral services. Mr. 
Gibbs signified his acceptance of the invitation. His 
salary, as assistant pastor, began on the 3d of the 
following November. 

In 1692 Mr. Bailey left Watertown, and returned 
to Boston. t There he became, the next year, assistant 

* Hutchinson, Vol. I. p. 344. 

f The following is Mr. Bailey's own notice of the last Sunday he 
preached in Watertown, as inserted in his book of records. The minute 
detail of his farewell, while it excites a smile, indicates an affectionate 
interest, that is pleasing. " I did particularly bid farewell to my house, 
old walks, all the three parts of the town, my assistant Gibbs, the 
schoolmaster, deacons, selectmen, military persons, two constables, the 
burying-place, my servant that lived with me formerly, this old church, 
the three or four meetings in the town, this neighbourhood of mine, saints 
but sinners also, old but young also, all my children which grieved me 
most, friends and foes, the sweet singers of Israel, all widdows and 
fatherless familyes, all moralized persons, all that heard me not novf, 



64 

minister in the First Church. In that office he con- 
tinued till his death, which took place the 12th of 
December, 1697, in the 54th year of his age. The 
reasons, which induced him to remove from Water- 
town, are not stated. No indications of dissatis- 
faction on his part, or on the part of the people, are to 
be found.* Mr. Bailey has left on record, during his 
residence in Watertown, 39 marriages, 361 baptisms, 
and 117 admitted to the church. 

The Rev. John Bailey was born near Blackburn in 
Lancashire, England, on the 24th of February, 1644. 
His mother was a woman of remarkable piety, and 
she early imbued his mind with a serious sense of 
God and of religion. An extraordinary instance is 
recorded of the happy effect of his youthful piety upon 
his father, who is represented to have been a licen- 
tious and profligate man. The mother one day called 
the family together, and persuaded her son John to 
pray with them. When the father returned probably 
from one of his haunts of vice, and was told of the 
affecting manner, in which the child had led the devo- 
tion of the household, he was smitten to the heart 



the pulpit, pue-seats, and galleryes (the cushion I left as a token of 
my love), all my administrations, him that digs the graves, neighbouring' 
towns and churches." What Mr. Bailey alludes to by "the three or 
four meetings in the town," I know not. 

* A diary was kept by Mr. Daniel Fairfield of Braintree, from 1697 
to 1711, with the following extract from which I have been furnished 
by the kindness of the Rev. and learned Dr. Harris of Dorchester. We 
learn from it, that depression of mind, and disease, were amon^ the 
causes of Mr. Bailey's removal to Boston. " 1697, Dec. 12th. Died in 
Boston the Rev. Mr. John Bailey, who for many years preached the 
Gospel of peace in the city of Limerick, in the kingdom of Ireland, but 
being persecuted and silenced he removed to N. E. 1684. He was 
highly honoured at his arrival, as he well deserved, being a more than 
ordinary lively preacher. He was for some years the officer of the 
Church in Watertown, where his wife died, and his dear brother Thom- 
as, who was also a famous minister. Then, being very melancholy and 
having the gout, he moved to Boston about the year 1693. He preached 
in Boston at the South Church once a month, and at the Old Church 
almost every Sabbath, and his turn in the Lecture ; till, falling sick last 
fall, he died as above written, and was honourably interred on the 16th 
day in the tomb of Mr. Thomas Deane." 



55 

by the touching circumstance. He became thought- 
ful and contrite, and proved at last a sincere, devoted 
Christian. Among the many encouraging evidences 
of the redeeming influence of maternal piety, there 
are few more impressive than this. Young Bailey, 
having received a good classical and general education, 
began to preach at the age of twenty-two. His first 
services in the ministry were at Chester. But he 
soon went over to Ireland, and about fourteen years 
of his residence in that country were spent at Limer- 
ick. There he labored with such an assiduous and 
self-sacrificing spirit, that he laid the foundation for 
that infirm state of health, from which he never after- 
ward wholly recovered.* His fidelity was severely 
tried by such persecutions, as were the usual price 
of noncomformity at that time. He was more than 
once thrown into jail for attending the administration 
of.the ordinances at private meetings. Persecution 
was not the only, nor perhaps the hardest, trial to 
which his constancy was exposed. An effort was 
made to draw him, by tempting promises, into the 
bosom of the Episcopal Church. While he was at 
Lemerick, his ministry was attended by persons of 
distinction, who were related to the Duke of Ormond, 
the lord lieutenant of Ireland. This circumstance 
provoked his enemies not a little ; and upon occasion 
of this excitement, the office of chaplain to the Duke 
of Ormond was offered to him, if he would conform, 
with the promise of a deanery immediately, and of a 
bishoprick so soon as a vacancy should occur. The 
man, whom it was thought expedient to silence by 
winning him over to the hierarchy at such a price, 
must have possessed no common influence. But 
severity and allurement were alike lost on him. He 
adhered to what he believed to be the cause of truth, 

* Mather describes the abundant success of Bailey's ministry at 
Limerick, by saying, that " ho seemed rather to fish with a net, than 
with an hook, for the kingdom of God." , 



56 

unterrified and unseduced. He continued to preach 
and to labor with untiring earnestness, and soon 
became again the victim of the spirit of persecution. 
The irreproachabk^ purity of his character afforded 
him no protection. The hardships of a long imprison- 
mcHt were inflicted on him. In the course of his trial 
he said to his judges, " If I had been drinking, and 
gambling, and carousing at a tavern with my company, 
my lords, I presume that would not have procured 
my being treated thus as an offender. Must praying 
to God and preaching of Christ, with a company of 
Christians that are as peaceable, and inoffensive, and 
serviceable to his Majesty and the government, as any 
of his subjects, — must this be a greater crime ? " And 
so far was common decency set at defiance, that the 
recorder replied, " We will have you to know that it 
is a greater crime." During his imprisonment, he 
was visited constantly by the members of his flock, to 
whom he continued to impart religious instruction, 
in such manner as his confinement would permit. 
He was finally released, upon giving a pledge that 
within a certain time he would leave the country. 
Mr. Bailey accordingly looked to New England, as the 
refuge of persecuted nonconformity. He and his 
brother came hither, probably in the year 1684. In 
that year he wrote a very earnest and affecting address 
" to his loving and dearly beloved Christian friends in 
and about Limerick." This was afterward printed at 
Boston in the same volume with sketches of some of 
his discourses, entitled " Man's Chief End to glorifie 
God, or Some brief Sermon-Notes on I Cor. x. 31." 
To this volume was prefixed an Address to the 
Reader, signed with the initials J. M. The writer of 
this prefatory address, whoever he was, remarks, that 
in publishing these pieces Mr. Bailey was " purely pas- 
sive, utterly refusing (whether out of melancholy, 
modesty, or bodily infirmity I say not) to be any oth- 
erwise concerned than barely to allow of their publica- 



57 

tioii." * In 1692 Mr. Bailey preached the Artillery 
Election Sermon in Boston ; but this discourse, I 
believe, was not published. 

The distinguishing traits of Mr. Bailey's character 
were ardent piety, great tenderness of conscience, and 
an absorbing interest in the spiritual welfare of his 
fellow men. His religious sensibility was exceedingly 
keen and active ; and it was his prayer (to use his 
own words) that "he might not be of the number of 
them, that live without love, speak without feeling, 
and act without life." It is evident that his temper- 
ament was hypochondriacal, and that he had a strong 
habitual tendency to melancholy and despondence, — a 
state of mind, which was doubtless aggravated, if not 
caused, by the scenes he had passed through in Ireland, 
and by the miserable condition of his health. He 
delighted to urge powerful and heart-searching ap- 
peals upon the consciences of men, more than to 

* This volume was printed by Samuel Green in 1G89. I have read it 
v?ith no little interest, partly for the good sense, but more for the warm 
and hearty feeling, which it displays. The farewell exhortation to 
the congregation in Limerick is peculiarly affectionate and pungent. It 
is written with remarkable simplicity and directness. To this circum- 
stance Mr. Bailey himself alludes in the Postscript : " The plainness of 
its dress," says he, "I take for granted will never offend you; for I 
only now write to you just as I used to preach to you, and talk with you. 
It is the market language that must save souls." In speaking of leav- 
ing them, he remarks, " It hath been my resolution of old, rather to 
wear out than rust out ; and it would quickly kill me to go on spending 
Sabbaths as of late I have done, and I suppose the offer of a thousand 
pound per annum, to lead such an idle life, would eignifie little to me. 
Many offers and invitations have I had elsewhere ; yea, to places that 
might seem at the first blush to please me ; but for your sakes they were in 
vain, and took me up few thoughts." Again ; " The broadest seas cannot 
hinder the mutual visits of our prayers : though we may never meet 
more betwixt these old pleasant walls of the Abby (which grieves my 
very soul, to turn my back on), yet let us often meet at the Throne of 
Grace," &c. Further he remarks, " Conversion hath been the business 
of my life these twenty years: by conversion I do not mean turning 
men to an opinion, but from darkness to light, and from the power of 
Satan to God. You have often heard me say, that I had rather turn 
one to Jesus Christ, than ten to my opinion." It is to be wished, that 
this noble sentiment were more heeded amidst the religious strife of the 
present day. The "Sermon- Notes," likewise, are full of solemn coun- 
sels, good thoughts, and apt illustrations. 

8 



58 

address the understanding, or to administer the conso- 
lations of Christianity ; " chnsing rather," as he said 
of himself, " to convert one sinner, than to comfort 
ten saints." His sermons were not so much didactic 
or argumentative, as hortatory and exciting; and he 
seems to have thought it far the most important part 
of his duty, as a preacher, to bring the awful consid- 
erations connected with the sanctions of religion to 
bear on his hearers with stirring power. But he dealt 
as severely, at least, with his own heart, as with the 
hearts of others ; and the rigorous standard, to wiiich 
he brought his feelings and conduct, may be seen in 
the extracts preserved from his diary. His services 
were much sought, and highly valued, both in Boston* 
and Watertown. That minister must be considered 
a happy man, who at the last hour has as little reason, 
as had Mr. Bailey, to reproach himself with the want 
of fidelity and devotedness to duty.f 

Mr. Gibbs w^as now the only clergyman in the town, 
and was engaged from time to time, but not ordained. t 

* John Dunton, in the curious account of his visit to Boston, has re- 
corded the following notice of the Baileys : " I went next to visit Mr. 
John and Mr. Thomas Baily. These two are popular preachers, and 
very generous to strangers. I heard Mr. John upon these words, — 
' looking unto Jesus,'' — and I thought he spake like an angel. They ex- 
press a more than ordinary kindness to Mr. Wilkins, my landlord, 
and (being persecuted in Limerick for their nonconformity) came over 
with him from Ireland. Reader, I might be large in their character; 
but when I tell you they are true pictures of Dr. Annesly (whom they 
count a second St. Paul) 'tis as high as I need go." Life &f Eirours. 
Vol. I. p. 95. 

f See Appendix F. Mather preached the funeral sermon of John 
Bailey, and in that has given many particulars of his life : Magnal. 
Book iii. Chap. 7. See also Middleton's Evangelical Biography, Vol. 
IV. p. 101. ; Emerson's History of the First Church, p. 146. ; Eliot, and 
Allen. Dr. Eliot has fallen into an error in speaking of Thomas Bailey 
as if he were the stated minister of Watertown, and in saying that 
John " only preached occasionally there." John Bailey was the prin- 
cipal and stated minister of the town : his brother was only an assist- 
ant, and had a short ministry. 

I About this time an order was passed by the town, providing that 
certain persons named " shall the next Sabbath day, and after, as they 
shall see reason, gather the contribution, and out of it satisfie the min- 
ister, keeping an account what every person contributes." 



59 

That ever-fruitful source of dissension in a village, the 
erection of a new meeting-house, began at this period 
to kindle strife among the inhabitants of Watertown. 
We have already seen, that thirty-eight years before 
this time some movements had been made towards 
providing a new place of worship. After Mr. Bailey's 
removal to Boston, the subject was called up afresh. 
In 1692, the Selectmen passed an order, that on the 
18th of November, the people should be assembled in 
order to fix upon such a place for this purpose, as 
should be " most convenient for the bulk of the inhab- 
itants." At this meeting nothing was effected. 
Some were earnest to change their place of worship, 
ad others equally earnest to have it remain where it 
was. Neither party was disposed to yield ; and in 
this dilemma the Selectmen agreed to refer the mat- 
ter to the governor of the province, Sir William 
Phipps, and the Council, requesting them to appoint a 
committee to investigate and settle the difficulty. 
The town concurred in this measure, and declared, 
" that they would sit down by the determination of 
that committee." This mode of bringing the disputes 
of a town to an issue, by referring them to the magis- 
trates of the State, would be deemed singular indeed 
at the present day ; but it seems then to have been 
not uncommon. The proposed committee was ap- 
pointed by the Governor and Council. It consisted 
of William Stoughton, John Phillips, James Russell, 
Samuel Sewall, and Joseph Lynde, names of high 
reputation in the affairs of the province at that time. 
They made a report on the 18th of May, 1693. The 
Selectmen, to whom it was sent, were dissatisfied with 
some par,ticulars in it, and designated certain persons 
to wait on the committee, and treat with them on 
these points. After a conference with these persons, 
a majority of the committee acknowledged that it was 
necessary to amend their report in some respects, and 
requested to have it left with them for that purpose. 



60 

They took ample time for revising it ; for it was not 
returned and made known to the town till April 17th, 
1694.* 

This report, notwithstanding the high source from 
which it came, did not allay the prevalent excitement. 
A protest against it was put on record, and signed by 
about 120 names. They utterly refused to bear any 
part of the expense of building a meeting-house in the 
place recommended by the committee, but declared 
at the same time that if a house of worship should be 
erected in the west part of the town, so as to be con- 
venient for " the Farmers," f they would gladly " be 
helpful therein." It is remarkable that the protest 
denies that the town had ever requested the interfer- 
ence of the magistrates in this matter, notwithstanding 
that a vote to that effect is on record. On the appear 
ance of this opposition, the Selectmen applied to 
the committee to know whether they would " stand by 
their advice," or had any thing to say about the protest. 
It does not appear that any answer w^as received. 
But the building of the new house on the proposed 
spot proceeded in defiance of the opposition. It was 
finished, and on the 4th of February, 1696, it was 
accepted, by a vote of the town, as the place of public 
worship, " according to the advice and determination 
of the honoured Committee." 

The town was now considered as divided into three 
parts, namely, the East end, the Middle part, and the 
Farmers, or the West end. The abovementioned dis- 
pute was principally between the two first of these. 
It was soon determined by vote, that the new meeting- 
house should in future be the place for all public town 
meetings. Unhappily, the heated state of feeling 
seems not to have abated for a considerable time, and 

* See Appendix G. 

t By this title were designated those, wlio inhabited that part of the 
town which afterward became Weston, and its vicinity. Among the 
protestors on this occasion, thirty-three were of "the Farmers," whose 
names are placed separately from the rest. 



61 

its influence was seen in occasional disorders attend- 
ing the management of public affairs. On the 26th 
of June, 1696, the town determined that "a day of 
humiliation " should be observ ed. The Rev. Samuel 
Willard and the Rev. Cotton Mather, both of Boston, 
were requested to fix upon a time for this purpose, 
and to perform the religious services of the occasion. 
Meanwhile repeated invitations had been given 
to Mr. Gibbs to become the minister of the town. 
These he so far accepted as to officiate statedly in 
the old meeting-house ; but there was, as yet, no 
permanent settlement. In the summer of 1693, he 
was, it seems, residing in Boston ; for at that time 
the metropolis was visited with an infectious and fatal 
distemper, which compelled many of the inhabitants 
to remove into the country ; * and on this occasion, 
we learn from the records, that the people of Water- 
town, fearing Mr. Gibbs would remove to so great a 
distance that they should not be able to enjoy his ser- 
vices, voted to transport his goods and to establish 
him among themselves in the house built for the min- 
ister. His engagements were renewed, at short 
intervals, by special applications ; and this circum- 
stance, with some others, may lead us to infer, that 
Mr. Gibbs consented to the arrangement somewhat 
cautiously and reluctantly. If so, it was probably 
owing to the divided and unquiet state of the town at 
that time. During the progress of the dispute, he 
had been repeatedly requested to engage himself for 
the new meeting-house, when it should be completed. 
No answer to these invitations is on record ; but 
when the new house was at length finished, he deci- 
sively refused to transfer his services to that place, on 
account, as he said, of the great dissatisfaction in the 
minds of many with regard to the several votes that 
had been passed. Accordingly he remained wath the 

*For the occasion of this sickness see Hutchinson, Vol. II. p. 71. 



62 

East part of the town ; and those who belonged to 
the new place of worship were left to seek another 
clergyman. From Mr. Gibbs's general character, and 
from the caution manifested in his conduct, it is to be 
presumed that he acted from a sense of duty in this 
case. 

Measures were soon taken to procure a minister 
for the new meeting-house. The church gave notice 
to the Selectmen, that having met for that purpose on 
the 28th of August, 1696, and having chosen the Rev. 
Samuel Angier for their pastor, they requested a meet- 
ing of the town for concurrence. A meeting was 
holden September 28th, and the town voted to co-op- 
erate in giving a call to Mr. Angier to the work of the 
ministry among them.* Previously to this, on the 
21st of September, there had been a meeting for 
debate and compromise. Persons had been appointed 
by the East end, and by the Middle part of the town, 
respectively, to discuss their interests, and reconcile, if 
possible, their contending claims. Proposals were 
made by each party ; but they were uniformly rejected 
by their opponents. They parted, each more strongly 
convinced than ever, of the injustice of the claims of 
the other. 

Mr. Angier accepted the invitation, and was 
inducted into office May 25th, 1697. The Rev. Mr. 
Easterbrook of Concord had been chosen by the 
church " to give the pastoral charge, and to be the 
mouth and moderator of the church in the publick 



*Here for the first time in our records the church is mentioned as 
acting separately from the town in the preliminaries to the settlement 
of a minister. This practice was not always adhered to after this time 
in Watertown. At the present day it is, in many places, entirely 
abandoned, the whole society acting as one body in giving a call. And 
that the usage of ancient times was not always in favor of the distinct and 
separate power of the church in this affair, is evident from the state- 
ment of Mather, that " many people would not allow the church any 
privilege to go before them in the choice of a pastor. The clamour is, 
we must maintain him.^' Ratio Disciplinae, p. 16. The clamour, as 
Mather calls it, was not very unreasonable, one would think. 



63 

management of the whole affair." A committee had 
been appointed to treat with other ministers " for 
their assistance in the settlement of Mr. Angier ; " but 
a provision was made, that if their assistance could not 
be obtained, the church would proceed without it. It 
was not obtained ; and Mr. Easterbrook was the only 
clergyman, who appeared at the ceremony of Mr. 
Angier's settlement. He presided in the business of 
the occasion ; " with much gravity and seriousness 
gave a most solemn and Scriptural charge to Mr. 
Samuel Angier, and concluded by recommending the 
whole to the favour and blessing of God." The pub- 
lic exercises of prayer and preaching were performed 
by Mr. Angier.* For what reasons the ministers who 
were invited refused to attend, we cannot now discov- 
er ; but probably they either judged the proceedings 
of the Middle part of the town to be improper, or 
they were unwilling to have any concern in a transac- 
tion which had been preceded by so much dissension. 
Mr. Angier had been ordained before, and settled in 
another place ; and in proceeding to his installation 
without the assistance of other churches, which, as a 
matter of custom and Christian friendship, had been 
solicited, and refused, his church manifested an inde- 
pendence worthy of praise, and in conformity with 
the provisions of the Cambridge Platform. 

At this time, Mr. Gibbs had not been ordained ; so 
that Mr. Angier was the only regularly settled cler- 
gyman in the town. An attempt was made to unite 
them in the work of the ministry. July 2d, 1697, a 
meeting of " the two precincts " f was held, at which 

* These particulars are taken from a book of records kept at that 
time by the church at the new meeting-house. This book was com- 
mitted to the Rev. Warham Williams, Mr. Angier's successor, by his 
son, the Rev. John Angier of Bridgewater, and is now in the hands of the 
Rev. Mr. Ripley of Waltham, as constituting a part of the records of 
his church. It contains little, except the particulars about the call and 
settlement of Mr. Angier. 

f This terra, used to designate the different parts of the town, here 
occurs for the first time in the refcords. 



64 

Mr. Gibbs was invited to become an assistant to Mr. 
Angier in the new place of worship. Of this proposal 
Mr. Angier expressed in writing his entire approbation. 
No answer to the application on the part of Mr. Gibbs 
is on record. It is to be presumed, that he refused to 
concur in the proposed measure. 

In the mean time, the inhabitants of that section 
of Watertown, which was afterward called Weston, 
appear to have had a separate interest of their own in 
ecclesiastical matters. October 2d, 1694, a vote was 
passed as follows : " Our neighbours, the Farmers, 
being upon endeavours to have a meeting-house among 
themselves, the town consents that they may come as 
far as Beaver Brook* upon the county road leading to 
Sudbury," &c. Nothing however seems to have been 
done at that time in consequence of this vote. Feb- 
ruary 1st, 1697, " the Farmers" were by vote released 
from all obligations to pay ministerial rates in the 
town, " any further " (as it is expressed) " than by way 
of contribution when and so often as they come to hear 
the word preached ; because they live so remote that 
they cannot come without much difficulty to the meet- 
ing-house in the town, but do commonly at present go to 
other towns which are nearer, and do contribute there 
towards the support of the ministry where they go to 
hear the word." It is also mentioned as a reason for 
the exemption, that they would probably soon have a 
house of worship and a minister of their own. That 
part of Watertown had indeed now become, in every 
thing but legal form, a distinct precinct, and orders 
were passed from time to time in public meetings for 
settling its boundaries. On the 16th of March, 1698, 
a tax of two hundred and ninety-five pounds, to defray 
the expenses of the meeting-house recently erected in 

* The name of this brook is still retained, and familiarly known. It 
was given by Gov. Winthrop and his attendants, " because the beavers 
had shorn down divers great trees there, and made divers dams across 
the brook." At the same time Master's Brook and Mount Feake were 
named. See Winthrop, Vol. I. p. 68. 



65 

the Middle part, was assessed upon all the inhabitants, 
" the Farmers only excepted, because they have built 
a meeting-house more convenient for themselves." 
The house here referred to was then in progress, but 
was not sufficiently finished to be used for religious ser- 
vices till March, 1700. In the interval, the people in 
this part of Watertown had chosen their officers, and 
acted as a distinct parish. Mr. Thomas Symms, Mr. 
Joseph Mors, Mr. Nathaniel Gookin, Mr. Thomas 
Tufts, and Mr. William Williams were successively 
called to the work of the ministry among them, before 
they were entirely separated from Watertown. In 
January, 1713, this precinct was in due form incor- 
porated, as a distinct town, by the name of Weston.* 
The people of Walertown consented to this separation 
on certain specified conditions, one of which was, that 
" the Farmers" should still be bound, as before, to pay 
their proportion in the expense of repairing or rebuild- 
ing the bridge over Charles River. 

To return to the ecclesiastical affairs of the two 
societies in Watertown. The attempt to unite them 
was, as we have seen, ineffectual. The East part 
now took measures to have their clergyman formally 
and permanently inducted into the pastoral office. In 
Judge Sewall's manuscripts,! the following record, 
relating to this subject, is found : " October 6, 1697. 
A church is gathered at Watertown East End, and 
Mr. Gibbs ordained. Mr. Fox ordains, Mr. Sherman 
gives the Right Hand of Fellowship. This was done 
in the afternoon in the open aer, tho' a cold day. 

*For some remarks on the precise date of this incorporation, and for 
the history of Weston subsequently, see Dr. Kendal's Century Sermon, 
January 12, 1813. 

f Chief Justice Sevvall, here and before mentioned, was a man of high 
reputation, and is said to have been an intimate friend of the Rev. Mr. 
Gibbs. He was great-grandfather of the late Chief Justice Sevvall of 
Massachusetts, and died January 1st, 1730, aged 78. The manuscripts, 
from which extracts are often taken, were journals of such occurrences 
in his times as seemed to hira worthy of notice, and frequently afford 
valuable information. 

9 



66 

The Western party, having the Select-Men on their 
side, got possession of the Meeting-house, and would 
not suffer the assembly to enter there. The Lord be 
mercifull to his people, pardon our sins, and heal our 
gaping Wounds ! " Of the disorderly conduct here 
alluded to, one of the effects of the lamentable strife 
which had prevailed, I find no other notice. 

Difficulties soon arose concerning the support of 
public worship. In 1700, the government of the pro- 
vince, probably in consequence of some petition, inter- 
posed, and passed a resolve on the subject. In 1712, 
the town was assembled to hear the advice of the 
General Court, which was issued on the 4th of Novem- 
ber in that year; and they then expressed their desire to 
maintain the public worship of God according to the 
rules of the court in 1700, but said nothing about the 
advice of 1712. At another meeting on the 4th of 
May, 1713, they determined that it was improper for 
the town, as such, to act upon the advice and direction 
of the Court, but that each congregation must act upon 
it separately. Soon after, however, there was a vote, 
at a general meeting of the town, to submit to the ad- 
vice of the Court. Still an attempt was made to dis- 
turb the arrangement, which had thus been agreed 
upon, and the East precinct entered on record an ear- 
nest protest against any such attempt. It was long 
before the strife, awakened by this subject, was entire- 
ly appeased. The salaries of Mr. Angier and Mr. 
Gibbs, it appears, were both paid from the common 
treasury. Although an effort was made by the East 
congregation to effect a division into two distinct town- 
ships, it was unsuccessful, and the two parts continued, 
as before, one town.* 

The foot bridge, which had for many years been the 
only one over Charles River in Watertown, having gone 
to decay so much as to give occasion for complaints 
against the town, a question arose at a public meeting 

*See Appendix H. 



67 

on the 5th of September, 1718, whether it were better to 
repair the old bridge, or to build a new one in the same 
or another place. A committee was appointed to con- 
sider the question. They reported, that " to repair the 
old bridge or build another in the same place will be 
labour lost, or money sent down stream in a very little 
time." They then advised to build one at a place 
somewhat further up the river. This report was ac- 
cepted ; and furthermore the town voted, that they were 
desirous that the proposed bridge " should be a good 
and sufficient cart bridge for the accommodating the 
public, and especially some particular towns." This 
however was considered so great an enterprise, that 
they would not consent to undertake it without the 
assurance of assistance from the public ; " the charge 
thereof being," as they express it, " unavoidably great, 
far greater than Watertown and Weston can bear of 
themselves." They applied to the General Court for 
help in the affiiir, with what success does not appear. 
In January, 1719, the town entered into contract with 
Mr. Thomas Learned and Capt. Thomas Prentice to 
build the proposed bridge under the superintendence of 
a committee appointed for that purpose, and voted to 
give them £160 for it. Besides this, they were to 
have what they could obtain from the other towns that 
were interested in the undertaking. This bridge seems 
to have been regarded as the common cause of nearly 
all the towns west of Watertown, and with some 
reason, for a very great proportion of the people from 
that quarter passed the river at this point, and went 
to Boston over Roxbury Neck. Capt. Prentice and Mr. 
Learned built the bridge faithfully, according to the 
terms of their contract, and at the same place where 
our bridge is at present. But when they had finished 
their engagement, they found themselves losers by it, 
and petitioned the town, through the Selectmen, for 
compensation or relief. In this petition, dated November 
6th, 1721, they acknowledged, that the money promised 



68 

by stipulation had been honestly paid," but complained 
that " the bounty from other towns was far less than 
what they might reasonably expect, considering the 
great benefit they receive thereby." The considera- 
tion of their petition was deferred, in order that they 
might bring in an exact account of their expenses and 
receipts. Such an account they presented, by which 
it appeared that the bridge had cost £309. 17s. lid., 
and that they had received from Watertown, Weston, 
and some other towns and private persons, the sum of 
£184. 15s. lid., leaving the amount of their loss £125. 
2s. At the next town meeting, the petition was again 
taken up, and again deferred, and finally appears not 
to have been acted upon at all. Thus was completed 
the first bridge for wheel-carriages in the town about 
110 years ago. The place of the bridge, it is believed, 
has remained the same from that time to this. Within 
the memory of some now living, the bridge was so nar- 
row that only one carriage could pass at a time. When 
we consider how common and trifling an affair it is 
deemed to build such a bridge now, we are amused to 
see how great and even perilous an enterprise it was 
thought to be when first undertaken. But it should 
be remembered, that the contrast between their ability 
for such a work, and ours, is at least equally striking. 
The Rev. Samuel Angier died on the 21st of January, 
1719, aged 64, and was buried in a grave-yard now 
belonging to Waltham. He was the son of Edmund 
Angier of Cambridge, and was born in that town 
March 17th, 1655. He was a descendant, on the ma- 
ternal side, from the celebrated Dr. William Ames of 
England, author of " Medulla Theologise." He was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1673, and was or- 
dained at Rehoboth, October 19th, 1679. From this 
place he was dismissed, and afterward settled in Water- 
town as before mentioned. Of his character and ability 
as a clergyman, I know not that any account is to be 
found. There are however many evidences, that he was 



69 

highly esteemed by the people of his charge. During 
his ministry in Watertown, which lasted nearly twen- 
ty-two years, he received into the church 95 members, 
and baptized 706 persons. He has very often, but er- 
roneously, been considered as minister of Waltham.* 
The mistake will be obvious, if we remember that 
Waltham was not incorporated till nearly twenty years 
after his death ; although when it was incorporated, it 
included most of the society over which he had been 
settled. His son, the Rev. John Angier, was the first 
minister of the East parish in Bridgewater ; and a 
daughter of his was married to the Rev. John Shaw, 
minister of the South parish in Bridgewater. 

The efforts made to compose the diftuculties existing 
in the town seem, for the most part, to have resulted 
in mutual complaints, rather than in any approximation 
to a good understanding. May 13th, 1715, it was voted 
to build a "new meeting-house in some convenient 
place, where it may accommodate the inhabitants of the 
most westerly part of the town better than either of 
the other meeting-houses do that are already erected" ; 
and the next year a committee was chosen to fix upon 
a spot for that purpose. This was after the incorpo- 
ration of Weston ; of course, " the westerly part," here 
spoken of, must mean what is now Waltham. The 
inhabitants of this part, it would seem, might have been 
well accommodated at the new meeting-house already 
erected in the middle of the town, which was much 
nearer to them than the old one ; and as the town had 
now two places of worship, the support of which was 
the cause of much trouble, if not burdensome, it is not 
easily to be explained why they should wish for a third. 

* Thus Mr. Farmer, in his valuable " Genealogical Register," says, 
that Mr. Angier was " installed at Waltham," and in the Index to the 2d 
Series of Hist. Coll. he is referred to as minister of IValtham. The place 
where Mr. Angler's meeting-house stood is even now (after the separa- 
tion of Waltham) within the hounds of Watertown. The house, in 
which he lived, is said to have been that now occupied by Mr. James 
Gillpatrick, opposite the widow Harrington's. 



70 

The plan, however, was not carried into effect for sev- 
eral years ; indeed never in its original form. 

After the death of Mr. Angier, the western congre- 
gation continued to maintain preaching, and employed 
several individuals at different times to supply their 
pulpit. Among these are mentioned the names of Mr.' 
Timothy Minut, Mr. Gibson, and Mr. Robert Sturgeon. 

A definite division between the eastern and west- 
ern parts of the town was, at length, found necessa- 
ry. November IBth, 1720, the General Court, on 
application from the inhabitants of Watertown, ap- 
pointed a committee* to run a dividing line between 
the two precincts, and to decide on the expediency of 
removing either or both of the meeting-houses to such 
places, I suppose, as should be more central to their 
respective congregations, when the proposed boundaries 
should be fixed. This committee made a report the 
next month, which was accepted. Samuel Thaxter, 
Esq. was directed by an order of the Court, in con- 
formity with the report, to run the line between the 
two precincts. This he did, and a notice of his doings 
was entered in the town records. The line is described 
as beginning on Charles River, proceeding " on a north 
course forty-nine degrees east," and terminating at the 
southwestern bounds of that part of Cambridge which 
is now called West Cambridge. The committee like- 
w^ise decided, that within two years the new or west 
meeting-house should be removed to a rising ground 
near the house ofNathanielLivermore, which, I believe, 
was in the vicinity of the place where the Rev. Mr. Rip- 
ley's meeting- house in Waltham now stands, and that 
within ten years, the old, or east meeting-house should 
be removed to an eminence called School-house Hill ; * 

* Tliis committee was composed of Isaac WinsJow, John Gushing, and 
Samuel Thaxter, of the Council; and John Clark, William Dudley, 
John Chandler, and William Throop, of the House of Representatives. 

fThe hill here mentioned bore this naiiie for a long time. It is now 
called Meeting-house Hill, and is immediately behind our present place 
of worship. It is the highest point of land within the limits of Water- 
town. 



71 

or, that in each of the places thus designated a new 
house of worship should be erected. With the order 
of the General Court, issued in consequence of this 
report, the town voted to comply. But, from the 
doings of " the easterly congregation," which were 
placed on record by their request, it would seem that 
they entertained suspicions of some collusion on the 
part of their western neighbours, or of a disposition 
to thwart the course of proceeding recommended in 
the report. 

Nothing of this kind, however, was attempted. Ec- 
clesiastical councils were called, and gave their advice 
on the occasion ; and both parts of the town soon took 
measures to accomplish the object designated in the 
order of the Court. Besides granting money, to be 
raised by a levy, they appropriated to this purpose the 
town's proportion of the 50,000 pounds of bills of credit 
issued by the government.* The western precinct 
made proposals for the new meeting-house (that, in 
which Mr. Angier had officiated,) in order to remove ^ 
it to the spot which they were directed to occupy ; but 
they could not obtain it. They next appointed a com- 
mittee to treat for the purchase of the Newton meet- 
ing-house, which was then to be sold. This purchase 
was effected, for not more than eighty pounds. The 
materials of the building were transported to the ap- 
pointed place, and there set up anew. This was in 
1721. On the 14th of August in the next year, this 
part of the town invited Mr. William Welsteed to be 
their minister. But he declined the invitation, and 
was afterward settled at the Old North Church in Bos- 
ton. They next applied (December 18th, 1722) to 
Mr. Warham Williams, who accepted their call, and 
was ordained June 11th, 1723. He was a son of the 
Rev. John Williams of Deerfield, Mass., and in his 

* The Act for this purpose was passed in 1720. See " Acts and Laws 
of the General Court and Assembly of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay, &c. Anno Regis Georgii Septimo," 



72 

childhood was, with the rest of his father's family, in 
captivity among the Indians in Canada for two or three 
years.* He died June 22d, 1751, aged 52. 

The eastern precinct likewise proceeded, on their 
part, to comply with the direction of the Court. Sev- 
eral meetings were held, in which it was determined to 
erect a house for public worship on the height of land, 
which(as before observed) was then called School-house 
Hill ; and measures were adopted accordingly. This 
part of the town, as well as the western part, endeav- 
oured to purchase the new or middle meeting-house, 
choosing rather to remove this, if it could be had, than to 
build a new one : but their proposal for this purpose, like 
the other, failed of success. Accordingly, on the 14th 
of January, 1723, they voted to build a new house for 
worship on the hill before specified, leaving the dimen- 
sions of the building to be settled by a committee, pro- 
viding only that it should not be less than 50 feet long 
and 40 feet wide. The object of this vote was to be 
effected within twelve months ; and though no notice 
is taken of the completion of the work, yet doubtless 
it was finished within that time. It appears, that in 
consequence of the extraordinary expense, which the 
town was now obliged to incur, the minister of the 
eastern parish, Mr.Gibbs, relinquished a certain amount 
of the salary which was due to him. 

Watertown was now regularly divided into two dis- 
tinct parishes, the eastern and the western, each of 
which had erected a new meeting-house. This was a 
preliminary step to the final separation of the two par- 
ishes into distinct towns ; for several years, however, 
they remained together, as one town. In what man- 
ner the society, to which Mr. Angier had ministered, 
disposed of their meeting-house, we are not informed. 
They had refused to sell it to either of the two pre- 
cincts when application was made for it. The society^ 

* An account of this captivity, in detail, may be found in " The Re- 
deemed Captive returning to Zion." 



73 

it is probable, finding themselves too feeble to exist 
separately, were gradually dispersed and joined them- 
selves to- the other two parishes. Theiv meeting-house 
being abandoned was, we may presume, in the course 
of a few years demolished. It appears, however, that 
for some time they acted as a distinct church and so- 
ciety, and that their proceedings were thouglit to be 
irregular and censurable. That this was the fact, I 
infer from a vote recorded by Mr. Gibbs's successor 
concerning a Mr. Daniel Whitney, in which it is men- 
tioned, as an offence, that he "owned the covenant 
among and submitted himself to the watch and disci- 
pline of those who acted as a third church in Water- 
town, and that he had a child baptized by Mr. Robert 
Sturgeon after the result of the council of churches 
met at Watertown on May 1st, 1722." * 

The Rev. Henry Gibbs died on the 21st of October, 
1723, having just entered on the 56th year of his age, 
and the 27th year of his ministry, reckoned from the 
date of his ordination. He was buried on the 24th of 
October, in the old grave-yard in Watertown. His 
fatlier was Mr. Robert Gibbs, f a merchant of Boston, 
whose family was of Dorsetshire, England. Mr. Henry 

* Of the Council here mentioned I find no other notice. Mr. Sturgeon 
was (as before noticed) one of those who supplied the pulpit after Mr. 
Angler's death. Persons are living, who remember to have heard him 
spoken of as having been one of the clergymen in the town. 

f Mr. Robert Gibbs was a gentleman of large property, and of con- 
si(leral)le distinction, iu Boston. His house is mentioned by Josselyn, 
who, describing Boston in 16(J;^, says: "The buildings are handsome, 
joining one to anotlier as in London, with many large streets, most of 
them paved with pebble stone : in the high street towards the Common 
there are fair buildings, some of stone, and at the east end of the town 
one among the rest, built by the sliore, by Mr. Gibbs, a merchant, being 
a stately edifice, which it is thought will stand him in little less than 
£:}000 before it be fully finished." JVetv EnglaiiLPs Rarities Discovered, 
p. I & 2. In the time of Sir Edmund Andros, this house was once oc- 
cupied by soldiers, according to Judge Sewall, who records as follows : 
" 1686, Dec. 24. About 60 Red-Coats are brought to town, landed at 
Mr- Pool's wharf, where drew up, and so marched to Mr. Gibbs's house 
at Fort Hill." There was a wharf called by Mr. Gibbs's name in that 
part of Boston M^here he lived, 

10 



74 

Gibbs was graduated at Harvard College in 1685, and 
in June 1692 was married to Miss Mercy Greenough. 
His situation at Watertown must have been, in many 
respects, difficult and trying amidst the strife with 
which the town v/as agitated, during a considerable 
part of his ministry. But it reflects no little honor on 
his firmness, prudence, and good sense, that he seems 
to have been held in high respect by all the inhabitants 
of the town, even by those who abandoned the old 
place of worship, to which he was attached. No com- 
plaint or reproach appears against him, in the midst of 
transactions which usually make it difficult for a cler- 
gyman to escape censure. This was not the result. of 
calculating policy, or selfish pliancy of disposition on 
his part, but of real kindness of feeling and simple rec- 
titude of conduct. There can be no doubt that he was 
a devoted and faithful minister. His services were 
able and highly valued by his own parish, and among 
the neighbouring churches. Without any pretension to 
what are commonly considered great or shining quali- 
ties, he had, what is far better, sound sense, warm piety, 
and a well-directed zeal in doing good. Of his pecu- 
liarities and habits of life it is not easy, after the lapse 
of more than a century, to learn much. Tradition has 
preserved among his descendants the amusing, though 
trivial particular, that he was accustomed to write his 
sermons on the bellows in the chimney corner. The 
strange and melancholy infatuation about witchcraft 
prevailed in his time ; and of some of the scenes con- 
nected with this delusion he had an opportunity of 
being an eye-witness. His feelin2;s on one of these 
occasions he recorded in the following passages in his 
diary ; and while they intimate the superstitious mis- 
givings, to which he in common with others yielded, 
they show at least that he was capable of holding his 
mind in suspense on the subject, which was a degree 
of moderation and good judijment not very common at 
that period, even among intelligent men : " 1692, 30t^ 



75 

May. This day I travelled to Salem. 31st. I spent 
this day at Salem Village to attend the publick exam- 
ination of criminals (witches), and observe remarkable 
and prodigious passages therein. VVonder'd at what I 
saw, but how to judge and conclude I am at a loss: to 
affect my heart, and induce me to more care and con- 
cernediiess about myself and others, is the use I should 
make of it." Mr. Gibbs was a benefactor both to his 
church and to the College. lu his Will, which was 
proved November 11th, 1723, he made the following 
bequest, part of which still constitutes a portion of what 
is called the ministerial fund : " I do give and bequeath 
to the Eastern Church of Christ in Watertown, to 
which I have borne a pastoral relation, for the encour- 
agement of the gospel ministry there, my four acres of 
pasture land and three acres of marsh, situate in the 
East end of said town, for the use of the said church for 
ever. And I do give to said Church my silver bowl 
with a foot." His legacy to the College he devised 
in the following terms : " And further it is my will, 
that within two years after my youngest child comes 
of age, an hundred pounds be paid by my heirs for the 
use of Harvard College, forty pounds thereof by my 
son, and twenty pounds apiece by my daughters ; the 
yearly interests to be exhibited to such members of the 
College as need it, firstly to my children's posterity if 
they desire it." 

The writings of Mr. Gibbs bear a creditable testi- 
mony to his talents, piety, and sobriety of judgment. 
They have that natural and direct character, which 
indicates that the author's chief desire was to do good. 
While they are free from all affectation of style and 
extravagance of feeling, they breathe the warm and 
tender spirit that is so well suited for the purposes of 
edification. In 1721 he published a treatise entitled 
" The certain Blessedness of all those, whose Sins are 
forgiven, considered, confirtned and applyed, from 
Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. Boston : printed by S. Kneeland 



76 

lor D. Henchman." It consists of a number of dis- 
courses condensed together in a systematical form. 
For this book a preface was written l)y tlie Rev. 
Benjamin Wadsworth, at tliat time minister of the 
First Church in Boston, and afterward president of 
Harvard College, who remarks, " The worthy Author 
of these Sermons needs no commendation in a pre- 
face ; being justly most vahied by those to whom he 
is most known." A little volume, full of affectionate 
and practical counsels, was gathered from Mr. Gibhs's 
papers, and published after his death, with the title, 
" Godly Children their Parents Joy ; exhibited in 
several Sermons &c., Boston : printed by S. Kneeland 
& T. Green for D. Henchman. 1727." The preface 
was written by Dr. Colman of the Church in Brattle 
Square, Boston.* In 1704 Mr. Gibbs preached the 
Artillery Election Sermon : it was published with a 
title of somewhat formidable length, as follows ; " The 
Right Method of Safety, or the Just Concern of the 

*Dr. Colman expresses his opinion of the book as follows : " But I 
forget that I am only writing a preface, and that but to a small book, 
and a very good one that needs nothing of mine to be added to it The 
good people of Watertown, who press'd me to this service, will, I hope, 
easily forgive me the length I have gone ; and having shown tiiis re- 
spect to the labours and memory of their deceased pastor as to send this 
posthumous piece to the press, I trust they will now treasure it up in 
their hearts, put it into the hands of their households, and teach it dili- 
gently to their children, for whom, as well as for themselves, it is well 
ada|jted to make saving impressions, if God add liis blessing. The very 
virtuous children of the deceased author will not need to be exhorted to 
receive these instructions of their father with a double reverence, and 
teach their children after them to rise vp and callhim blessed. Yea I will 
presume to add my wish, that the students at Cambridge (where the 
learned author was so well known a^d honour'd while he lived) would 
wear this little book about them, and make it a Vade mecum ; study the 
plain and easy rules of it, and weigh well the powerful and strong motives 
in it ; till their whole soul receive the rich leven of it, and they go into 
that wisdome taught in it, which will render 'em the joy and crown as 
well of their country, as of their parents. Such are the sermons here 
commended to you ; and such sermons as tliese, in the ordinary course 
of preaching, will give a man character and praise eno' in the churches 
of Christ, as a wise and faithful pastor, and as a judicious and learned 
preacher. To say more of the gifts of one of the most modest and retir- 
ed men while he liv'd would be to offer some kind of violence to Him now 
he is dead." 



77 

People of God to join a due Trust in Him with a dili- 
gent Use of Means. As it was propounded in a 
Sermon ])reaclied at Boston to the' Artillery Company 
of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, on the 
5tli of June, 1704, being the Day for their Election of 
Officers." The text was Psalm xliv. 6.* These, I 
believe, are the only published productions of Mr. 
Gibbs's pen. He is said to have had a turn for poetry ; 
and a s])ecimen of it is appended to a manuscript 
collection of his sermons, now in the library of the 
Essex Historical Society. It is an " Attemjji at 
Versification on the Word of God," in twenty-four 
stanzas, and manifests the piety much more than the 
poetical gifts of the writer.f 

The records kept by Mr. Gibbs are defective, 
extending only from 1697 to 1 ?03. During this 
time, the number of his admissions to the church was 
31, of marriages 21, and of baptisms 143. 
• Janiiarv 14th, 1723, a committee was chosen bv the 
town to address the General Court for the purpose of 
obtaining " the 2009 acres of upland and 1500 acres 
of meadow formerly granted to VVatertown, and not 
yet taken up." It does not appear when, or for 
what purpose, this grant had been made. The land, 



* Judge Sevvall lias recorried that, in 17"20, he " propounded Mr. Gibbs 
for election preacher." This refers to the General Election; but the 
proposal seems to have been unsuccessful, for Mr. Gibbs never preaclied 
the seruion on that occasion. 

f For many of the above particulars concerning Mr. Gibbs I am in- 
debted to the politeness of one of bis descendants, Mr. William Gibbs 
of Salem, a diligent and careful antiquarian. It should also be men- 
tioned that Mr. Josiah W. Gibi)s, Professor of Sacred Literature in 
Yale College, and distinguished as an Oriental scholar and Biblical 
critic, is among the descendants of this minister of VVatertown. His 
daughter, Margaret, was the wife of the Rev. Dr. Appleton of Cam- 
bridge: she was married June <fi5th, 17H), and died January 17th, 1771. 
He had a son William, who was drowned in Charles River in Cambridge, 
where he was at school, August, 1715; of which event Judge Sewall 
has taKen notice in his MSS. In a list of the eminent ministers of 
New England, made liy the Rev. John Barnard of Marblehead, the 
name of Mr. Gibbs of Watertown is placed in the second class. Hist. 
Coll. 1st Series, Vol. X. p. 170. See Appendix I. 



78 

if obtained, was to be divided between Watertown 
and Weston, accordin<Ji; to the proportion of each in 
the Province Tax. Their right to tliis grant, it would 
seem, had become obsolete, or was disputed ; for they 
speak of recovering it, in the records of the town meet- 
ings of 1725 and 1726, in which the subject comes 
up again more than once. They made but slow pro- 
gress in gaining the attention or consent of the Court 
to their petition. But tliat finally they did succeed, 
in part at least, we learn from the fact, that in August, 
1728, ])ersons were appointed " to seek out and survey 
the 2000 acres of land granted to Watertown and 
Weston," and likewise to procure a plan, or sketch, 
of the land under the hand of the surveyor, to be 
presented to the General Court, at their next session, 
for their confirmation. The next year, a proposal to 
sell the town's right in these 2000 acres was rejected 
by vote. In connexion with the abovementioned 
petition, it was voted (March l4th, 1726,) " to address 
the General Court for a suitable tract of land to settle 
their young people on.''"' About ten years afterward 
(December 1st, 1735), the representative of the town 
was instructed to bring the subject again before the 
Court, and to ask for a township, out of the unappro- 
priated land of the Province, to furnish a settlement/or 
their youths "for such reasons as may justly be offer- 
ed." How cogent these reasons were, we cannot 
judge ; for they are not stated. The necessity, 
whether real or imaginary, for such a petition, implies 
that the young men of the town were supposed to have 
become too numerous to find room at home ; but why 
a special provision was necessary to procure a settle- 
ment for them, instead of leaving them to take care 
of themselves, it is difficult to discover. 

The successor of Mr. Gibbs in the ministry of the 
Eastern parish was the Rev. Seth Storer, who was 
ordained July 22d, 1724. Of the proceedings in rela- 
tion to his settlement nothing is said in the town 



79 

records, since it was a concern belonging only to the 
precinct.* 

In January, 1731, the representative of the town 
was directed to petition tlie General Court " to 
demolish the great bridge over Charles River in Cam- 
bridge, and to erect a ferry in lieu thereof, under such 
regulations as they shall see meet." The occasion or 
reasons for this petition are not assigned. It may be 
conjectured that the obstruction of navigation was the 
grievance, of which the Watertown people complained ; 
if so, their business on the river must at this time have 
been of considerable amount. A vote was passed in 
1734, to ask of the Court a grant of some of the unap- 
propriated land belonging to the Province, " to enable 
them to support the bridije over Charles River in 
Watertown"; and it should be mentioned here, that 
about twenty years before this time they had applied 
to the Court for an order to have this bridge maintained 
at the expense of the whole county of Middlesex. 
These applications were doubtless unsuccessful. In 
1734, also, another petition to the General Court was 
agreed upon, the object of which was to obtain a grant 
of land " to enable Watertown the better to support 
the two granmiar schools in the tow n." This request, 
I presume, likewise failed of success. In order, as it 
would seem, to effect the same object (partially at 
least) in another way, certain tracts of land, lying by 
the highways and belonging to the town, were sold ; 
and in March, 1735, a vote was passed to create, out 
of the money accruing from these sales, a stock or 
fund, the interest of which should be annually appro- 
priated "for the support of the Grammar and English 
schools in the town." Whether this fund was in fact 
ever constituted, or, if so, how it was afterward dis- 

*The following is Mr. Storer's own notice of his settlement, in the 
book of church records : "I was called to the work of the ministry by 
the church and congregation in the Easterly precinct in Watertown on 
February 3d, 1723-4, and was solemnly set apart for that work by prayer 
and the imposition of the hands of the presbytery on July 22d, 1724." 



80 

posed of, are questions which I suppose we have no 
means of settling. There is no such school fund in 
existence at the present time. 

An ineffectnal attempt was made hy the Western 
precinct, in 1731, to obtain an incorporation, as a sepa- 
rate township. In April of that year, at a meeting of 
both precincts, agents were appointed to appear before 
the General Court in ojjposition to the attempt, and 
to show reason wliy the prayer of the petitioners 
should not be granted. An incorporation was not 
effected till seve.i years after this time. 

A meeting of the town was called on the 10th of 
September, 1731, "to hear the representatioii of the 
honorable House of Representatives relating to the 
publick estate of the alfairs of this Province now 
laboured under, which representation is recommended 
to the several towns by said Bouse, for their serious 
consideration : and for tiie town to give their advice 
or directions with relation to said affairs laboured 
under." At the time here specified, the great and 
engrossing topic of public interest was the discussion 
between Governor Belcher and the House, concerning 
the support of the governor by a fixed salary ; and 
to this subject, or to some question growing out of it, 
the representation mentioned in the above statement 
probably referred. It does not appear by the records, 
that the peoi)le of Wjitertown took any measures 
whatever in relation to the subject. 

The jurisdiction, or at least the advice, of the Pro- 
vincial government seems to have been extended not 
only to meeting-houses, but to school-houses. In 
1733, certain measures were recommended by the 
House of Representatives, to which the town gave 
their consent, for the purj)ose of having two school- 
houses, and em|)loying two schoolmasters. 

In 1734, a singular and somewhat amusing inter- 
ruption of traffic, amounting to a sort of act of non-inter- 
course, took place between Watertown and the 



81 

metropolis. There had been, till this time, no estab- 
lished and regular market in Boston ; but in the 
spring of 1734 measures were adopted to provide three 
places for this purpose in parts of the town distant 
from each other.* What there was in this proceeding, 
or in the arrangements connected with it, that gave 
offence to the country towns, we are not told. But, 
from some cause, the establishment of the Boston 
markets excited not a little indignation. On the 17th 
of May, the following vote was passed by the people 
of Watertown : " Whereas the inhabitants of the town 
of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, have of late set 
up a market in the said town, which by many is 
thought will prove prejudicial to people in the country : 
voted, that whatsoever person, or persons, belonging 
to Watertown, shall within the space of twelve months 
from the 11th day of .June next presume to carry any 
wares or provisions from out of Watertown, and 
expose them to sale in the markets that are voted by 
the inhabitants of the town of Boston to be set up 
there, shall be subject to ])ay a fine of twenty shillings 
for each offence ; one fourth part thereof to the inform- 
er, and the remainder to be for the use of the poor 
of the town of Watertown, to be recovered by the 
Selectmen of said town before any of his Majesty's 
justices of the peace for the county of Middlesex." 
This vote was to be presented to the General Ses- 
sions of the peace for tiie county of Middlesex for 
their confirmation. The formal and strong manner, 
in which it is expressed, intimates the determined 
feelings of men resisting what they suppose to be an 
injurious oppression. It is not easy to perceive in 
what consisted the mighty grievance, which led to 
this interdict of traffic. Probably, the people from the 
country, having been before accustomed to sell their 
commodities wherever they pleased in the metropolis, 

* See Snow's History of Boston, p. 225. 
11 



82 

reg.'U'ded this restriction to certain places of sale as an 
infringement upon their rights, and resented it accor- 
dingly. This agreement, on the part of the inhabi- 
tants of Watertown, to suspend all intercourse of sale 
with the people of Boston at their markets, must have 
soon proved as ineffectual, as it was foolish ; for, in 
defiance of votes, people would not long refrain from 
selling wherever and whatever they found it for their 
interest to sell. It is to be presumed, that the prohi- 
bition shortly became a dead letter. Such a union 
among all the neio;hbouring towns, as would amount 
to a coercion upon the inhabitants of Boston, could 
hardly have been expected. The whole affair is an 
instance of that unwise jealousy, with which the 
country is apt to regard the city.* 

A successful effort was at length made by the 
Western parish in Watertowr. to become a distinct 
town. At a meeting of tlie people of that precinct on 
the 8th of December, 1737, a committee was appoint- 
ed to petition the General Court for an act of incor- 
poration, chiefly on account of the difficulties and incon- 
veniences arising from the necessity of transacting the 



* That some opposition or resentment was anticipated from the coun- 
try people, on this occasion, may be inferred from the pains taken to 
obviate any unfavorable impressions, in the following- notice of the open- 
ing of the markets, in the News-Letter (a paper published at that time 
in Boston) of June 6th, 1734: " It's tho't the said markets, carried on 
conformable to the restrictions, limitations, and regulations of the said 
order, will by experience be found very beneficial, as to this great 
Town in general, and to our Country Friends in particular, in many res- 
pects, h'ii more especially in having certain fixed places of resort both 
for selling and buying the necessaries of life from day today : And the 
cheaper and better the commodities brought for sale are, certainly the 
more vendable they will be ; which no doubt will induce our Country 
Neiglibours to endeavour to bring as good to the market as they can : 
their interest, as well as the toivn^s, has been jointly consulted and aim- 
ed at herein." It may be added, that the abovementioned experiment in 
Boston was unsuccessful at that time, and seems indeed to have been 
nearly or quite as unpopular there, as in the country. In the course of 
three years, " the South End market was converted into shops, the 
North was taken down to be used in constructing a work-house, and 
the one at the Town-dock was demolished by a mob." Snow's History 
of Boston, p. 226. 



83 

business of the two parishes together. The petition 
was granted, and the western precinct was incorpora- 
ted as a town, by tlie name of Waltliam, on the 4th 
of January (corresponding in new style to the 15th), 
1738.* 

Our narrative has now brought us to the period 
when the original territory of Watertown was divided 
into three towns. Notices of transactions resulting 
from their former connexion, or from the conditions 
on which they separated, frequently occur. Tiiat 
portion of the whole, which remains under the old 
name of Watertown, is of much smaller extent than 
Weston or Waltham. 

In 1738 mention is made, for the first time, I believe, 
of an altercation resulting from conflicting claims about 
the fishery. In that year, two complaints, one from 
people in Newton, Needham, Weston, Medfield, and 
Sherburne, the other from the Indians in Natick, were 
presented to the General Court against the inhabitants 
of Watertown, for stopping the course of the fish in 
Charles River. The representative of the town was 
directed to defend their cause in opposition to these 
complaints. Instances of a similar difficulty, from the 
interfering claims of neighbouring towns in this busi- 
ness, have since been not infrequent. 

About this time a proposal was under discussion 
among some of tiie towns in this vicinity, to combine 
for the purpose of making a joint provision for their 
poor. They appointed a committee to confer on the 
subject of building a work-house at the common 
charge and for the common benefit of the towns con- 
cerned. The report of this committee in favor of 
the project, when read at a public meeting in Water- 
town, was accepted, and a vote was passed to unite 
with Cambridge, Waltham, Newton, Weston, and 
Lexington in building such a work-house. The repre- 

*For an accurate and interesting description of Waltham, see Hist. 
Coll. 2d Series, Yol. III. p. 261. 



84 

sentatives of the towns concerned were instructed to 
apply for an Act of the Court, whicii should enable 
them to accomplish this object effectually and advan- 
tageously. Whether this plan was ever executed, I 
am unable to tell. Probably it was not ; for, eleven 
years after this time, the people of Watertown 
appointed persons "to enquire of the neighbouring 
towns, and see who of them will come into the affair 
or scheme of the building of a work-house," an inquiry 
which implies, that the previous proposal had failed 
of success. And at a still later period, (March, 1760,) 
a vote was passed " to join with Cambridge, Newton, 
and Waltham in raising a sum of money, by lottery 
or otherwise, for building a work-house." But the 
project does not appear to have been accomplished. 
It has been thought by some reflecting men, that large 
establishments of this kind, in which several towns, 
perhaps a whole county, should have a common inter- 
est, would possess many advantages over the usual 
mode of supporting the poor. 

The practice of arranging places for the people at 
public worship, by the authority of the town, still 
continued. May 15th, 1741, persons were chosen 
" to new seat the meeting-house forthwith by such 
rules as the town aji;rees on." In performing this 
duty, they were instructed " to have regard to age, 
honour, and usefulness, and to real and personal estate, 
as it stands in the last invoice." This deference to 
the distinctions of rank and property seems to us, at 
the present day, not a little singular. But it was 
then very common ; and one instance of it may be 
observed in the arrangement of the Catalogue of the 
graduates of Harvard College, till 1773, when the 
names began to be placed in alphabetical order. The 
business of seating the people in the meeting-house 
recurs, in the records, in 1748 and 1749. 

At a public meeting in Watertown, June ^Oth, 
1741, it was proposed "to know the mind of the 



85 

town, whether they are willing to encourage the build- 
ing of a bridge over Charles River from Cambridge to 
Boston, and what they will do for that end." The 
proposal was rejected by a negative vote. From this 
record it appears, that the plan of a bridge between 
Boston and Cambridge was under consideration at a 
much earlier period, than is commonly supposed. 
The proposal for a bridge from Boston to Charlestown 
was made as early as 1720; but I am not aware of 
any account, which states one to have been distinctly 
projected from Boston to Cambridge at so early a 
date as the above mentioned notice.* 

The people of Watertown regarded the support of 
their own bridge over Charles River as a burdensome 
grievance, and complained heavily of the expense. 
They made several efforts to obtain relief, in some 
way," from the government of the Province. In May, 
1744, the town, in connexion with Weston and 
Waltham, voted to apply to the General Court for 
a grant of land, for this purpose. More than thirty 
years before, they had endeavoured to procure an Act 
requiring the whole county of Middlesex to support 
the bridge. These applications were unavailing ; but 
they persevered from time to time in their attempts to 
get assistance. It has been already remarked, that 
when the town claimed of the Court the fulfilment of 
certain grants of land, they obtained the 2000 acres 
of upland ; but they do not appear to have been 
equally successful with regard to the meadow land. 
In May, 1752, they renewed their attention to this 
subject in connexion with the bridge. Their repre- 
sentative was instructed to join with the representa- 
tives of Weston and Waltham in searching the Prov- 

* We are liowever informed by Snow in his History of Boston, that 
" there had been considerable effort to have the first bridge carri- 
ed from West Boston to Cambridge ; but the expediency of making 
the experiment across tlie narrower part of the river was so apparent, 
that the town of Boston had expressed an opinion almost unanimous 
(1238 to 2) in favor of it." p. 318. 



86 

ince Records to find tlie grant of 1500 acres of mead- 
ow, and having thus proved then' right to such a tract, 
to ask of the General Court an equivalent for it in 
some of the unap])ropriated lands belonging to the 
Province, which might be applied for the relief of 
" their great burden relating to said bridge, that they 
may be the better enabled to bear that burden, which 
the public in general enjoy and reap so great benefit 
and advantage by." It does not appear that the town 
ever obtained the 1500 acres of meadow, or the equiv- 
alent for which they petitioned ; and probably, the 
expectation of help from the Provincial Government 
in maintaining the bridge was abandoned. 

It was owing, I suppose, to the state of the curren- 
cy,* that in March, 1749, the town voted to defer 
the usual grant for the Rev. Mr.. Storer's salary, and 
appointed a committee to inquire, meanwhile, " into 
the contract made with Mr. Storer at the time of his 
settlement, and to make diligent enquiry what silver 
was per ounce then, and what the necessaries of life 
then cost, and how things are at this present time." 
This committee reported at the next May meeting; 
and sixty pounds were then granted by vote as Mr. 
Storer's salary for the year from the first of March, 
larger sums having been previously proposed, and 
rejected. This appropriation was deemed insufficient 
by a considerable part of the town ; and their opinion 
prevailed so far, that when the Selectmen soon after 
called another meeting on the subject, the salary was 
raised to what seems to have been its regular amount 
at that time, £6G. 13s. 4d. 

In 1753 the First Parish in Cambridge presented a 
petition to the General Court, " that some of the 
Easterly inhabitants of Watertown witli their estates 
might be annexed to said parish." The jieople of 
Watertown appointed a committee to oppose this 
petition. It was nevertheless granted ; and the next 

* See Hutchinson, Vol. H. p. 399, &c. 



87 

year, the inhabitants of Wateitown petitioTied for a 
part of Cambridge and a part of Newton, as an equiv- 
alent for what had been taken from them to be annex- 
ed to Cambridge. No grant corresponding to this 
petition appears to have been made. Watertovvn was 
thus fiLially reduced, from its originally large territory, 
to the small extent includt^d within its })resent bounda- 
ries.* In 1754, it was proposed to make an exchange 
with Waltham in such a manner, that the inhabit- 
ants of some of the extreme parrs of each town might 
be better accommodated in attending public worship ; 
but the proposal was rejected. A committee was 
chosen to petition " that a number of the inhabitants 
of Newton might be set off to Watertown." This 
petition probably related to what was called Angler'' s 
Comer, which still remains a part of Newton, f 

At this period a warm and acrimonious dispute 
began in the town, and lasted for a considerable time. 
December 17th, 1753, a proposition was submitted 
to remove the meeting-house from the hill, on which 
it stood, to some other place not specified. At that 
time the proposition was rejected. But the rejection 
seems only to have given new excitement to the 
friends of the measure ; for, on the 20th of the next 
February, a meeting was called, chiefly with refer- 
ence to this subject, and it was then voted that the 
meeting-house should be removed from School-house 



* Watertown still owns a part of a wharf on Charles River in the 
western quarter of Cambridge. 

f It may be worth while to insert liere the following curious record, 
as a specimen of the superintendence exercised by the Selectmen at 
that time with regard to schools: " At a meeting of the Selectmen at 
Mr. Jonathan Bemis's on the 4th of Dec. 1753, Mr. Sam'l Coolidge was 
present, and the Selectmen gave him a thorough talk relating to his 
past conduct, and what he might expect if he did not behave well in 
the school for the future : they declar'd unto him that they put hira 
into the school again for tryal, and if he behaved well he should not be 
wrong'd, and that he was to begin the school the 11th day of this De- 
cember. Mr. Coolidge complained that he wanted a winter coat : de- 
sired Mr. Bemis to get him a bear-skin coat, and get Mr. Meed to 
make it : and to give the Selectmen an account thereof." 



88 

Hill " to the half acre of land lately given by Nath'l 
Harris Esq. to the town, and that the said house be 
erected tliere anew," &c. There was evidently a trial 
of strength on the question, and the vote passed only 
" by three odds." The removal was agreed to, it 
seems, only on the condition, that the town, as such, 
should be at no expense about it. Accordingly seven 
men undertook it on their own responsibility, and 
gave a security that the town should be free from all 
charge. These men were appointed a committee to 
see the business executed, and were directed to pro- 
ceed as speedily as might be. The old house was 
accordingly taken down, and the materials transported 
to the destined spot, to be again set up ; but before the 
work could be completed, the building in its unfinished 
state was burnt to the ground. This took place in 
May, 1754. No doubt was entertained that the fire 
was the work of an incendiary : several persons were 
examined and brought to trial, but evidence could not 
be found sufficient to convict any one. 

The people were thrown into a sort of consternation 
by this event. The religious services of the Sabbath 
were at first attended at the Rev. Mr. Storer's house ; 
but another more convenient place was soon provided 
to answer the present purpose. They next proceeded, 
"under the present awful frown of Heaven" (as they 
called the sad effects of their own contention), to 
appoint a day of fasting and prayer, and to apply to 
Mr. Storer for advice and direction on the subject. 
The day was observed, and several of the neighbouring 
ministers were invited to attend and assist in the 
services. 

A town meeting was held June 13th, 1754, at 
which it was determined by vote to build a new house 
for public worship, fifty-six feet long, and forty-two 
feet wide, on the same place as before, viz., the half 
acre of land given by Nathaniel Harris, Esq. Six hun- 
dred pounds were at first appropriated for this object. 



89 

and a building committee chosen, with directions to 
have the house finished as soon as possible. A protest 
against all these proceedings, by those who had from 
the outset been opposed to the removal of the meet- 
ing-house from the hill, was presented and j)laced on 
record. The asperity of the language used in this 
protest sufficiently indicates the irritated state of feel- 
ing between the two parties. They, who signed it, 
complained that their wishes had been slighted, and 
their rights violated, in the whole business ; a griev- 
ance, which they thought the more intolerable, as they 
claimed to be " the owners and possessors of much 
the greater part of the rateable estate in the town." 
They protested against paying any part of the cost of 
the new house, among other reasons, because tliey con- 
ceived that the persons, who had at first given a ibrmal 
pledge to save the town from all expense on account 
of the removal and rebuilding of the meeting-house, 
were still bound by that engagement, since, when 
they took upon themselves that obligation, they vol- 
untarily incurred the risk of all accidents and hazards ; 
and consequently that the town ought not to be bur- 
dened with any charge whatever. Notwithstanding 
this argument, the town did not require the committee, 
formerly appointed, to fidfil their bond, probably 
because the fire, in which the meeting-house had been 
destroyed, was believed to have taken place under 
such circumstances, as would not allow it to be fairly 
considered as one of the hazards incurred by the 
engagement. The bond was soon after relinquished 
into the hands of the committee. 

The building of the new meeting-house proceeded, 
without any regard to the protest. It appears to have 
been completed as early as February, 1755. Till 
very recently, it was the only one in the town, and 
with an addition hereafter to be mentioned, it is the 
place of worship still used by the Congregational Soci- 
ety. This house is consequently somewhat more than 
12 



90 

seventj-five years old.* It may easily be supposed, 
that the former situation of the meeting-house, on the 
summit of a high hili, must have been exceedingly 
inconvenient, especially in the winter ; nor can we 
wonder that a majority of the people were in favor 
of the removal. It is to be regretted, however, that 
this could not have been done in the spirit of peace 
and of mutual concession. The effects of the unhap- 
py dispute, in one form or another, are said to have 
lasted several years. 

The meeting-house being finished, the pews were 
soon disposed of, being assigned, by the town, to in- 
dividuals, according to their proportion in the sched- 
ule of taxes. It was voted, that " they should be 
settled upon real and personal estate," the valuation 
used for this purpose being the same by which the 
rate for building the house had been made. The 
object of this vote was, I suppose, to regulate the or- 
der of precedence in choice. When any one should 
wish to sell his pew, the town was to have the refu- 
sal of it ; and when any person should remove from 
Watertovvn, his pew was to revert to the town, upon 
their reimbursing the money which he had paid for 
it. Other regulations concerning the mode of obtain- 
ing and transferring the pews were established, though 
evidently with much opposition. 

Arrangements were made for selling " the minis- 
terial place,t exclusive of the marsh," if Mr. Storer's 

* The account ofcost of this meeting-house, as reported by the com- 
mittee, st-inds as follows : 

To the coTitract with Messrs Pierpoint and Evans . £4840 Old Tenor. 
To services done by persons, and materials procured, 300 : 1 
To allowance for finishing tlie meeting-house . . . 51 : 

Granted by the town . . . £4500 Old Tenor. 

Materials of former house sold . lot : 1 5251 : 1 

4651 : I 

£4051 : 1 

£000 : 
Tlie sum of six hundred pounds, old tenor, w^as raised on the pews to 
cancel tiie remainder due in the account. 

t The parsonage here mentioned was, I am told, the place recently 
occHpied by Mr. David Livermore, and now m the possession of his 
family. 



91 

consent could be obtained. He consented, and the 
place was sold. The committee, to whom the busi- 
ness was entrusted, were instructed to offer Mr. 
Storer the interest of the money arising from the sale, 
or to procure another place, as he should choose. It 
seems he preferred the latter proposal ; and the town 
purchased the parsonage which was occupied by him 
and his successors.* 

At this time, Watertown owned a share in a tract 
of land near Wachusett Hill, as we learn from a vote, 
passed May 12th, 1755, to sell " their right in the 
farm near Wachusett Hill." Mr. John Hunt, Lieuten- 
ant Daniel Whitney, and Ensign Jonathan Bemis 
were appointed a committee to effect the sale. It 
is not said in the records how the town came into 
possession of this land ; but it was doubtless their part 
of the 2000 acres before mentioned, which they had 
claimed and received in consequence of an old grant 
made by the General Court. Waltham and Weston 
had each a right in that grant, because it was made 
before they were incorporated ; and accordingly these 
towns are mentioned as having claims in the tract 
near Wachusett. When Watertown's part in this 
land was sold, the sum of £66. 1 3s. 4d., from the 
proceeds of the sale, was (by vote, October 6th, 1755,) 
appropriated towards the purchase of the new parson- 
age, although the committee, who were to buy that 
estate for the town, had been expressly instructed to 
give no more for it than would accrue from the sale 
of the old parsonage. It does not appear on record, 
nor have I been able to learn, what disposition was 
made of the rest of the money, for which Watertown's 
right in the land near Wachusett was sold. 

Much dissatisfaction (on what ground, we are not 



* The buildings, and a small part, of the land, belonging 1o this min- 
isterial place, were sold in ^S'i'^. "J'here is now no pnrsonago in the 
town. 



92 

informed) was expressed concerning the choice of a 
moderator at a town meeting on the 5th of March, 
1759. In consequence of that uneasiness, and with 
the consent of all parties, application was made to the 
General Court, requesting them to set aside the pro- 
ceedings of that meeting, and to appoint a moderator 
to act for the town. The Court complied with the 
request, and appointed for moderator the Hon. Ben- 
jamin Lincoln, Esq., father of that distinguished officer 
and patriot, General Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln came to 
Watertown, and presided at the town meeting. Here is 
another curious instance of an appeal to the Provin- 
cial government on tow^n matters. We do not learn 
what the difficulty was, which produced the necessity 
of resorting to this expedient. At the meeting of 
which Lincoln was moderator, nothing but the ordina- 
ry business of the town was transacted. 

A notice occurs, March 15th, 1762, that the Sec- 
ond Precinct in Cambridge had petitioned to have a 
part of Watertown annexed to them. The people 
of Watertown opposed this petition ; and it appears 
to have been rejected. 

In 1767 an application was made to the General 
Court " to have the fishery in Watertown put under 
some regulations, to prevent the many quarrels and 
disputes that arise thereby." Legislative enactments 
respecting this subject have been frequent in more 
recent times. 

The dark and stormy period of the Revolution was 
now fast approaching. The excitement, by which 
it was preceded, doubtless reached every village 
in the land. The indignation called forth by the 
act imposing certain duties on tea, paper, glass, 
and other articles imported into the colonies, is famil- 
iarly known. When, towards the close of the year 
1767, a meeting was held in Boston for the purpose 
of promoting the use of home manufactures, and pre- 
venting, as far as possible, the importation of Europe- 



93 

an articles, sympathy and support in the measure 
were sought by an appeal to the other towns. At 
a public meeting in Watertown, January 11th, l76o, 
a letter was read to the inhabitants from the Select- 
men of Boston, inclosing a copy of the votes, which 
had been passed there in relation to the abovemen- 
tioned purpose. After some debate, the people of 
Watertown appointed a committee to report on the 
subject, and at an adjourned meeting on the 18th of 
January, they passed the following vote, the phraseol- 
ogy of which is somewhat amusing, as well as spirit- 
ed. " The town of Watertown, being alarmed at the 
late impositions on the colonies, and perceiving the 
streights and difficulties the people of this Province 
must be brougiit into by lessening the medium of 
trade, have considered with pleasure the attempts 
made for lav ins; aside the use of foreign articles we 
may well do without, and the resolutions many towns 
have come into for the promotion of industry and the 
encouragement of their own manufactures; we do al- 
so cheerfully and unanimously vote, that we are ready 
to join in any patriotick endeavours to lessen our im- 
portations, and thereby prevent our gold and silver 
from giving us the slip, that we consent to lay aside 
the use not only of the articles enumerated by the 
town of Boston in their resolves, but of all foreign teas 
as expensive and pernicious, as well as unnecessary, 
this continent abounding with many herbs of a more 
salubrious quality, which, if we were as much used to 
as the poisonous Bohea, would no doubt in time be as 
agreeable, perhaps much more so ; and whilst by a 
manly influence we expect our women to make this 
sacrifice to the good of their country, we hereby de- 
clare we shall highly honour and esteem the encour- 
agers of our own manufactures and the general use of 
the productions of this continent ; this being in our 
judgment at this time a necessary means, under God, 
of rendering us a happy and free people." It may 



94 

excite a smile at. the present day to observe the strong 
terms, in which our fathers thought it necessary, in 
their zeal for resisting what they considered aggres- 
sion, to denounce that refreshing beverage, the praises 
of which Dr. Johnson has celebrated by describing 
himself as one " who with tea amuses the evening, 
with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes 
the morning." They seem to have been apprehen- 
sive that their measures of hostility against tea would 
be least likely to find a cordial acquiescence on the 
part of the ladies; and if tradition do not misinform 
us on this point, their apprehensions werfe not with- 
out foundation. At the same meeting they gave in- 
structions to their representative, which, while they 
manifest a warm determination to resist encroach- 
ments on their rights, indicate, by the respectful men- 
tion made of the king and the mother country, how 
far they were at that time from any thought of re- 
nouncing their allegiance to Great Britain. After 
charging him to conduct himself agreeably to the di- 
rections given by the town of Boston, " who to their 
immortal honour took the lead," they proceed as fol- 
lows : " we desire you would be upon your guard 
against, any who, under false pretences of patriotick 
zeal to their country, may endeavour to draw you into 
any rash or disorderly measures, either disrespectful to 
the best of Sovereigns or undutiful to our Mother Coun- 
try ; but that you coolly and dispassionately join, and re- 
peatedly join if expedient, in all firm, vigorous, but most 
legal and peaceable measures in ascertaining our char- 
ter privileges, and for obtaining relief of those grievan- 
ces which otherwise threaten us with impending ruin." 
September 21st, 1768, Mr. John Remington was 
chosen by the town to attend the Convention, sum- 
moned at Boston to take into consideration the state 
of public affairs, when a military force from England 
was daily expected to be stationed in the metropolis. 

* See Gordon, History, &.c. Vol. I. p. 164. 



* 



95 

Votes and resolves for the purpose of discouraging 
importations from England were again passed, March 
8th, 1770, by Watertown, and a copy of them trans- 
mitted to " the committee of merchants in Boston." 

In November, 1772, a committee of correspondence 
was appointed, at a town meeting in Boston,* to write 
circular letters to the several towns in the province, 
enumerating the wrongs and grievances inflicted by 
the British Parliament, and calling upon the people to 
be active and watchful. The inhabitants of Water- 
town, like those of most other places in the colony, 
replied to this appeal in a tone of earnest and cordial 
sympathy. A committee was chosen, and on the 5th 
of February, 1773, an answer to the circular was 
reported, which was accepted, and put on record. 
This answer states, in very strong and solemn expres- 
sions, the conviction entertained of their dangers and 
duties at the momentous crisis ; but it contains nothing 
sufficiently peculiar to be extracted. 

The agitating excitement, which led to the destruc- 
tion of the tea in Boston harbour, was of com-se felt 
with peculiar intensity in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of the metropolis. The people of Watertown 
met, January 3d, 1774, and expressed their sentiments 
and purposes in relation to the whole subject, in the 
resolves common at that period, preceded by a spirited 
preamble. Adverting to the meeting which had been 
held in Boston,t they say, " We are fully of opinion 
the people had a right thus to meet and consult for 
their common safety. We read that the Jews in a 
state of captivity and slavery, under an arbitrary king, 
when a decree was gone forth to destroy them, had 
liberty to assemble together and defend themselves, 
and consult how to ward off the blow that was coming 
upon them, by preventing the wicked edict being car- 
ried into execution ; under Providence they were 

* Gordon, Vol. I. p. 208. f Gordon, Vol. I. p. 223. 



96 

wonderfully succeeded, having the kind influences of a 
good Mordecai in their favour, who, not accusing 
them of riot, sought their welfare, and was accepted of 
the multitude of his brethren. And we are also fully 
of opinion, that the people; assembled at Boston on the 
14th and 16th of December last had no design or 
desire, that the tea on board the vessels in the harbour 
should be destroyed, or any way damaged ; but on 
the contrary were very desirous, and used their utmost 
endeavours, that said tea might be safely returned to 
the owners thereof. But that the destruction of the 
tea was occasioned by the Custom House officer's and 
the Governor's refusing to grant a clearance and pass 
for the vessel, that was designed to carry said tea 
back to the owner from whence it came." The 
resolves following this preamble, proscribed, w ith al! 
possible strength of expression, the use of tea in any 
mode or quantity. 

August 22d, 1774, the Selectmen were requested 
by the town " to meet such persons as may appear at 
a proposed meeting, to be held at Concord on the 30th 
day of this present month, from the several towns in 
this county, to consult what may be proper to do in 
order to preserve the charter rights." in the next 
month of the same year, the town* ordered that their 
militia should be exercised two hours every week, for 
the three autumn months, and that a view should be 
taken of the arms and ;immunition in the town, to be 
reported at a subsequent meeting. 

Inconformity with the resolutions and advice of the 
county of Suffolk,* the people of Watertown voted 
(October 3d, 1774,) that their collectors of taxes 
should pay no more money into the treasury of the 
Province till further orders, but that the money should 
all be paid into the town treasury. A pledge was 
given to the collectors, that they should be protected 

*Gordon, Vol. I. p. 255. 



97 

and supported in carrying this vote into execution. 
At the same meeting, their representative was 
directed to unite with the representatives of the sev- 
eral towns, in forming a Provincial Congress. 

November 21st, 1774, a committee consisting f 
nine persons was appointed to carry into effect the 
association and the resolutions entered into by the 
General Congress at Philadelphia in the preceding 
October, and likewise the resolutions of the Provin- 
cial Congress. 

On the 27th of November, 1774, the Rev. Seth 
Storer died, in the 73d year of his age, and in the 
51st year of his ministry. He was born ai Saco, 
Maine, May 27th, 1702, and was graduated at Har- 
vard College in 1720, at the early age of eighteen. 
His father was Colonel Joseph Storer of Wells in 
Maine, who was much distinguished in the Indian 
wars at that time.* The ministry of Mr. Storer, was 
the longest, which occurs in the history of Watertown. 
I am not able, after a diligent inquiry, to record any. 
particulars of his life or ministry. The general 
impression which I have received of his character, is 

*He is mentioned by Belknap, who tells us (Hist, of N. H. Vol. I. p. 
211), that on the 9th of June, 1G91, the Indians "attacked Storer''s gar- 
rison at Wells, but were bravely repulsed " ; and by Mather, (Magnal. 
Book vii. Chap. 6th, Appendix,) who likewise speaks of "Scorer's garri- 
son at Wells." His brother, Samuel Storer, was also distinguished for 
his bravery and good conduct in the same war. Their father was Wil- 
liam Storer, one of the earliest settlers on the Eastern shores. It is not 
clearly ascertained whether the family came from England or Scotland. 
The name is said to have been formerly written sometimes Storer and 
sometimes Story, even in the same instrument, when the same individ- 
ual was intended. An instance of this variety is found in the name of 
Augustine Story in the famous deed from four Sagamores to John Wheel- 
wright and others, which is given in tiie Appendix to Belknap's New 
Hampshire, Vol. I., and the authenticity of which has been so fully dis- 
cussed and denied by Mr. Savage in the Appendix to Winthrop, Vol. I. 
Benjamin Storer, who is said by Hubbard (p. 631) to have been killed 
by the Indians at Wells, in April, 1677, was doubtless one of this fami- 
ly. The Rev. Seth Storer had a sister named Mary, who was carried 
away by the Indians from Wells, or Saco, to Canada ; she was brought 
up near Montreal, was married to a Frenchman, Jean St. Germaine, and 
died August 25th, 1747. Ebenezer Storer, Esq., treasurer of Harvard 
College from 1777 to 1807, was a nephew of the clergyman. 

13 



98 

honorable to him as a man, and as a Christian. He 
discharged the duties of his office, for half a century, 
in a quiet, unobtrusive manner, but with scrupulous 
diligence and fidelity. Moderate in his wishes and 
fond of retirement, he never coveted applause or 
sought to attract notice. He found his happiness in 
the conscientious performance of his regular, tranquil 
duties ; and he seems to me to have possessed much of 
the spirit manifested by Hooker, when, with beautiful 
simplicity of expression, he solicited his Archbishop for 
" some quiet country parsonage, where," he said, " I 
may see God's blessings spring out of my mother 
earth, imd eat my own bread in peace and privacy." 
The few, who remember Mr. Storer, testify that his 
people regarded him w ith affectionate respect ; and 
they recollect that in his old age he was beloved by 
young people and by children, which is one of the 
best evidences, that could be had, of the goodness of 
his heart and the excellence of his character. His 
intellectual powers were respectable, and well employ- 
ed. As a theologian, he was candid and mild in his 
sentiments, and loved " the doctrine which is according 
to godliness," much better, than " questions and strifes 
of words." As a preacher, he was judicious, practical, 
and edifying, his chief end being to produce that reli- 
gious improvement which is founded upon permanent 
principles. I do not find that he ever published even 
a single sermon, or any other production of his pen. 
In the warm controversy, which arose in the town 
concerning the removal of the meeting-house, during 
his ministry, an occasion of offence to one or the other 
of the parties was scarcely to be avoided ; and however 
prudently and firmly he may have conducted himself, 
he is said, for a time, to have fallen under the displeas-. 
ure of a part of the town, in consequence of that 
transaction. It may easily be conceived, that this was 
owing rather to the spirit with which the dispute 
was carried on, than to any blameworthy feelings or 



99 

behaviour on his part. It was in the course of his 
ministry, that New England was agitated by what 
was called the great Revival of religion, a period of 
strong excitement, when many a clergyman was ready 
to say, in the exulting language used by Whitefield, 
that he had every day " a constant levee of wounded 
souls, and many quite slain by the Law." In this 
commotion Mr. Storer and his parish seem to have had 
no share. His name does not appear among those of 
the pastors, who gave their testimony at the meeting 
in Boston, July 7th, 1743, nor among those who, 
having been absent from that meeting, afterward 
communicated their attestations in letters. He had 
too much sobriety and calmness to be carried along: 
by the force of sympathy or spiritual rivalry, in an 
excitement, the result of which, he might foresee, 
would at least be of a doubtful character. 

Mr. Storer has left on record 1419 baptisms, and 
the names of 328 persons received into the church, 
during his ministry.* 

We come now to the period, in which Watertown 
became more intimately connected with the public 
proceedings of a fearful crisis. The second Provin- 
cial Congress assembled at Cambridge on the 1st of 
February, 1775.t Their session was continued till the 
16th of that month, when they adjourned to meet at 
Concord on the 22d of March. At that time and 
place, accordingly they were reassembled ; and after 
transacting the important business before them, they 
again adjourned to the 10th of May. In specifying the 
time, however, they made a provision, that, if circum- 
stances should require it, they might be called together 
sooner, and that, if this should be necessary, notice 
should be given by the members in Cambridge and 

! . 

* For the particulars, which I have stated concerning liis family, I 
am indebted to tiie kindness of the Rev. J. P. B. Storer of Walpole. Mass., 
one of the descendants of a brother of this Waterlown minister. 

f Jonathan Brown represented Watertown in this Congress. ' 



100 

the vicinity. In consequence of the expedition of the 
British troops from Boston on the 19th of April, and 
its bloody result, a meeting was suddenly summoned 
at Concord on the 22d ; and havino; appointed a chair- 
man and clerk, they immediately adjourned to Water- 
town. Here the Congress assembled, during the 
remainder of the session, in the meeting-house. Jo- 
seph Warren, Esq., the early and lamented martyr in 
the cause of freedom on the memorable 17th of 
June, presided at their deliberations after the Hon. 
John Hancock had been chosen delegate to the Con- 
tinental Congress at Philadelphia. A committee of 
nine persons was chosen to collect the most exact 
evidence concerning the facts in the affair of the 19th, 
at Lexington ; and another committee to draw up an 
account of all the transactions of that day. 

The third and last Provincial Congress, consisting 
for the most part of the same members who composed 
the second, was chosen, and met at Watertown on 
the 31st of May. They held their sessions, as before, 
in the meeting-house. The Rev. Dr. Langdon, pre- 
sident of the College, preached a sermon before them, 
appropriate to the occasion, from Isaiah i. 26. Jo- 
seph Warren, Esq.* was chosen President, and Samuel 
Freeman, Jr., Secretary. This session lasted till the 
19th of July. The Congress were busy in adopting 
such measures, as the distracted state of the Colony 
required. The suffering poor of Boston were particu- 
larly objects of attention ; and every thing was done 
that could be done, to provide for their removal and 
support. Means were likewise adopted to procure 
arms, and to save provisions and supplies from falling 
into the hands of the British. 

* Warren went from Watertown, with all the alacrity of patriotic 
feeling, on the morning of the I7th of June. Just before his departure, 
lani informed, he entreated the ladies of the house, in which he board- 
ed, to prepare and procure as great a quantity of lint and bandages as 
possilde, observing, " The poor fellows will want them all before night." 
He was succeeded, as President of the Congress, by the Hon. James 
Warren of Plymouth. 



101 

This Provincial Congress was succeeded by a Gen- 
eral Court, or General Assembly of the Colony (as it 
was sometimes styled), chosen in conformity with 
the colony cliarter. Tiiey convened at the meeting- 
house in Watertown on the 26th of July.* The Hon. 
James Warren was chosen Speaker, and Samuel 
Freeman, Clerk. The General Assembly continued 
their sessions at Watertown till the 9th of November, 
1776, when they adjourned to meet at the State 
House in Boston on the l2th of the same month. 
Their measures were such as the state of the times 
required. In the first session, acts were passed con- 
firming the doings of " the several Provincial Con- 
gresses," making and emitting bills of public credit, 
declaring the rights of certain towns in Massachusetts 
Bay to elect representatives, removing officers, civil 
and military, who held their places by the appoint- 
ment of any Governor or Lieutenant Governor of 
Massachusetts Bay, &c. At a subsequent session, 
measures were adopted to encourage the manufacture 
of powder and fire-arms, to fit out armed vessels to 
defend the seacoast, to provide for a more equal 
representation in the General Court, to raise troops 
from time to time, and such other proceedings as are 
familiarly known in the history of that period. 

Among the i'ew newspapers printed at that time, 
was "The Boston Gazette and Country Journal." It 
had been published for some time in Boston by Edes 
& Gill,t and was distinguished by the spirited and 
fearless tone, in which it defended the American 
cause. The paper obtained, as we may readily sup- 
pose, great popularity and a wide circulation. Such 
a publication, of course, could not be continued in 

*The Council met in the house of the late Mr. Edmund Fowle, now 
occupied by his widow. This house was selected for the purpose on 
account of its vicinity to tlie meeting-house, which enabled the two 
bodies to have easy and immediate intercourse. 

■j-For an account of these printers, see Thomas's Hisfon/ ef Printing; 
in America. Vol. I. p. 341. 



102 

Boston, while the town was in the possession and 
power of the British. Notwithstanding the avenues 
between the metrojjolis and the country were as much 
as possible closed, Edes found means to escape by 
night in a boat. Gill, who had less zeal or courage 
than his partner, remained in Boston, and lived in 
seclusion till the danger was over. When Edes fled 
from Boston, he took with him a press, and a few 
types. With these he established himself at Water- 
town, where he opened his printing-house, continued 
the publication of the Gazette, and was employed as 
printer by the Provincial Congress and the General 
Assembly. Though his facilities for printing were 
but poor and slender, his zeal and diligence enabled 
him to surmount all difficulties.* " The Boston Ga- 
zette and Country Journal " was published in Water- 
town from June 5th, 1775, to October 28th, 1776, 
when, the British having evacuated Boston, the editor 
returned and again established his paper there. 

In this Gazette were published those letters of 
Hutchinson, which were discovered at his house in 
Milton, and inflamed into stronger violence the obloquy 



*" The printing he executed at Watertown did not, indeed, do much 
credit to the art ; but the work, at this time, done at other presses, was 
not greatly superior. The war broke out suddenly, and few of any 
profession were prepared for the event. All kinds of printing materi- 
als had been usually imported from England ; even ink for printers had 
not, in any great quantity, been made in America. This resource was, 
by the war, cut off; and a great scarcity of these articles soon ensued. 
At that time, there were but three small paper-mills in IMassachusetts ; 
in New Hampshire, there were none ; and Rhode-Island contained on- 
ly one, which was out of repair. The paper which these mills could 
make, fell far short of th^ necessary supply. Paper, of course, was 
extremely scarce ; and what could be procured was badly manufactur- 
ed, not having more than half the requisite labor bestowed upon it. It 
was often taken from the mill wet and unsized. People had not been 
in the habit of saving rags, and stock for the manufacture of paper was 
obtained with great difficulty. Every thing like rags was ground up 
together to make a substitute for paper. This, with wretched ink and 
worn-out types, produced miserable printing." Thomas's History of 
Printing. Vol. I. p. 343. The appearance of Edes's paper, at the time 
referred to, corresponds to what might be expected from this descrip- 
tion. 



1P3 

which the Governor had before incurred.* The pub- 
lication of these letters began in the first number of the 
paper which was printed at Watertown, and continued 
nearly a year. They were occasionally accompanied 
with comments, intended to expose the duplicity of 
Hutchinson, and to keep the public indignation warm. 
Political essays of the most spirited character, exhor- 
tations and addresses to the people, were continually 
appearins; in the Gazette, some of them marked with 
talent and fairness, and some with that heedless vio- 
lence which is always the growth of strong political 
excitement.f It is remarkable that no particular ac- 
count is given in this paper of the affair at Lexington 
and Concord on the 19th of April, nor of the battle of 
Bunker Hill. Brief allusions are sometimes made to 
these events ; and in July a short statement occurs of 
the killed and wounded on both sides at Charlestown 
on the 17th of June, but without comment. It seems 
difficult to account for the omission of all details con- 



* Gordon, Vol. I. p. 344. • a • * 

+ The following " Extract of a letter from a gentleman in America to 
his friend in London," copied from the Gazette for November 6th 1775. 
is an illustration of the pleasantry, with which the resolute spirit of the 
times occasionally displayed itself: the person alluded to m the letter, 
I suppose to have been the celebrated Dr. Frice : , , . , . , 

"Tell our dear friend, Dr. P , who sometimes has his doubts 

about our firmness, that America is determined and unanimous, a very 
few tories excepted, who will probably soon export themselves. Britain, 
aUhe expence of three millions, has killed J 50 Yankees this campaign 
which is £20,000 a head; and at Bunker's Hill she gained a mile of 
ground, halfof which she has since lost again by not takmg pos on 
Plou-h'd Hill. During the same time, 60,000 children have been born 
in America. From these data, his excellent mathematical head will 
easily calculate the time and expense requisite to kill us all, and conquer 
our whole territory." , „ ... ^ 

in the paper of April 1st, 1776, is the following jeu ffespnt in reference 
to the evacuation of Boston : " We hear that last Lord's day se'nmght, 
the Rev Mr. Bridge of Chelmsford preached a most animating discourse 
fronTthese wordsln the 2d of Kings, vii- 7. 'Wherefore they arose 
and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and ^ '«;; ho'^^^^l ^f J^^J^ 
asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 1 his passage 
of Sc ipture is a good description of the late flight of our ministerial 
enemies ; for they left their tents, and their horses, and a number of 
tories for asses." 



104 

cernlng matters cf such deep and agitating interest, as 
these must have possessed. 

The inhabitants of Boston, when they were driven 
from home, and dispersed in the country, had several 
town meetings in Watertown, which were summoned 
by means of notifications in the Gazette. At one of 
these, September 5th, 1775, Mr. William Cooper was 
chosen representative of Boston in place of the Hon. 
Samuel Adams, who had been elected to a seat in the 
Council. Another meeting was held November 28th, 
1775, to choose a representative for Boston in the room 
of the notorions Dr. Church, who had been expelled from 
the House, for attempting to carry on a secret and 
criminal correspondence with the enemy. Committees, 
appointed to manage affairs for the people of Boston, 
frequently met and transacted their business at Water- 
town. In 1776 the anniversary of the fifth of March 
was observed, in the usual form, by the people of Bos- 
ton at the meeting-house in Watertown. The Hon. 
Benjamin Austin was moderator of the meeting on 
this occasion; the Rev. Dr. Cooper offered the prayers ; 
and the Rev. Peter Thacher of Maiden delivered an 
oration on the dangerous tendency of standing armies 
in time of peace, which is said to have been received 
with warm and universal approbation.* 

The inhabitants of Watertown bore their part of the 
losses and burdens of the country, at this perilous pe- 
riod. One of their number was killed on the 19th of 
April t ; and many others, during the war, either died 
by sickness in camp, or fell on the field of battle. 

* This oration was printed at Watertown by Edes, and the following 
fable from Phsedrus was affixed to it for a motto : 

Asellum in prato timidus pascebat senex : 

Is, hostium clamore subito territus, 

Suadebat Asino fugere, ne possent capi. 

At ille lentus : " Quseso, num binas mihi 

Ciitellas impositurum victorem putas ? " 

Senex negavit. " Ergo, quid refert mea, 

Cui serviam, ciitellas dum portera meas ? " Lib. 1. 15. 

f This was Mr. Josepli Coolidge, * 



105 

Early in 1775 they granted money " to encourage the 
learnino- of the military art," bound themselves by cov- 
enants to promote in certain specified modes the inter- 
ests of liberty, collected and secured arms* and am- 
munition, and in general entered heartily into the 
measures for defence and protection, which were com- 
mon at that time. They raised their proportion of 
soldiers, and granted them the usual bounty in addition 
to the pay they received from the public chest. f 

In the first stage of the great contest, the object of 
the Americans unquestionably was not independence, 
but the restoration, on just principles, of the ancient and 
peaceful union between the colonies and the mother 
country. But the natural consequence of open hostil- 
ities was to carry the feelings of people rapidly beyond 
this point ; for the absurdity of continuing to profess 
allegiance to a government, against which they were in 
arms, must have pressed itself on their notice. Indica- 
tions, not to be mistaken, of a strong wish for bold and 
decisive measures to sever the tie of allegiance, which 
had now lost all its charm, were manifested early in 
1776. When the Continental Congress sounded the 
feelings of their fellow citizens on this subject, through 
the medium of the Provincial Assemblies, they found 
themselves anticipated, or at least promptly supported, 
by the people in the disposition to take the final step. 
One of the many instances of this state of feeling we 
find in the following vote at a town meeting in Water- 

* A committee was appointed " to mount the great guns" &fc.. This ex- 
pression refers, I presume, to certain cannons, for which some British 
officers came to Watcrtown to search ; but they searched in vain, the 
pieces being effectually concealed in a barn. At the beginning of the 
war, there was a depository of arms and military stores, under guard, 
at the house of Mr. Edward Richardson, who kept an inn at the Eastern 
part of the town, where one is kept now. 

f In March, 1777, the sum which had been granted by the town, in 
this way, to officers and soldiers, amounted to £G04. At a later date, 
May, 1778, the town " yoted a further sum of £5 to each of the men 
that went to the White Plains in the year 1776; and that the men that 
went to the Northward in the year 1776 with Capt. Edward Harrington 
be allowed a further sum of £1. I3s. 4d. each." 

14 



106 

town on the 20th of May, 1776 : " A iesolve of the 
late House of Representatives, relating to the Congress 
of the Thirteen United Colonies, declaring them inde- 
pendent of Great Britain, being read, the question was 
put to know the mind of the town, wliether thej will 
stand by, and defend the same with their lives and 
estates ; and it passed in the affirmative unanimously." 
Congress had likewise, in May, 1776, recommended to 
the several colonies to frame and adopt such govern- 
ments, as their circumstances might require. These 
were to be not temporary regulations, such as had been 
resorted to before, but so far permanent as to be un- 
limited with respect to time. The subject came be- 
fore the Massachusetts Legislature in September of the 
same year, and some preparatory measures were adopt- 
ed. On the 7th of October, the people of Watertown 
" took into consideration a resolve of the General 
Court of the 17th of September last, relating to a form 
of government ; and after some debate thereon, they 
Voted unanimously, that they give their consent that 
the present House of Representatives, with the Council, 
should form a plan of government for this state, to be 
laid before the several towns in the same, for their con- 
sideration, before it be ratified.* 

After the capture of Burgoyne's army, Watertown 
Was selected as one of the places, at which it was pro- 
posed to quarter the ofiicers. This proposal was zeal- 
ously resisted by the inhabitants. Taking alarm at 
the prospect of having such inmates in their houses, at 
a meeting in December, 1777, they declared their opin- 
ion " that the quartering the British officers among the 
inhabitants of Watertown at this time would be very 
dangerous to the peace and safety of the town, as well 
as the publick, and therefore they cannot give their 

* The effort at this time made towards ohtainilifir a Constitution for the 
State was unsuccessful. See Bradford's Hist, of Mass. from July 1775 to 
1789, p. 117 and 158. The Constitution proposed in 1778 was rejected 
by Watertown, as it was by a great nia^jority of other towns. 



107 

consent thereto." Some of the people, however, were 
inclined to furnish accommodations for the officers in 
their families. To such the aboveme.itioned vote was 
intended as a prohibition. It was also communicated 
to the Deputy Quarter Master by the Selectmen. The 
objection made by the Watertown people on this occa- 
sion amounted probably to nothing more, than the re- 
pugnance naturally felt by plain and sober citizens to 
having military strangers and foreigners in the midst of 
them. Some of the ofticers were quartered among 
them, notwithstanding their remonstrances, and some of 
them were stationed at Angler's Corner in Newton, an(J 
other places in the neighboiuhood. 

January 17th, 1778, the representative of the town 
was instructed to use his influence and give his aid to- 
wards ratifying and confirming the Articles of Confed- 
eration and perpetual Union among the United States 
of America, as agreed upon and proposed by Congress. 

It is time to return to the ecclesiastical affairs of the 
town, which, in the midst of the momentous political 
transactions of the period, lost the prominence usually 
belonging to them in a New England village. Immedi- 
ately after Mr. Storer's death, the town voted, accord- 
ing to the custom of the times, "to set apart a day for 
fasting and j)rayer, to seek the Divine presence and di- 
rection relating to the settling another Gospel minister." 
They invited those clergymen, who had borne the pall 
at Mr. Storer's funeral, to officiate on the occasion.* 
From that time the services of the pulpit were per- 
formed by various preachers, engaged from time to 
time, as they were wanted. Among these was Mr, 
Samuel Henshaw, who was paid " the sum of thirty 
pounds in full for his preaching." Dr. Cooper, pastor 
of the church in Brattle Square, Boston, resided in the 

* These were the Rev. Mr. Cook of Cambridge (now West Cam- 
bridge), tiie Rev. Mr. Gushing of Waltham, the Rev. Mr. Clarke of 
Lexington, the Rev. Dr. Appleton of Cambridge, the Rev. Mr. Wood- 
ward of Weston and the Rev. Mr- Merriam of Newton. 



108 

country on account of the troubles in the metropolis, 
and preached in Watertown for a considerable time.* 

It was not till November, 1777, that any movement 
was made towards the settlement of a minister. At that 
time, the town voted unanimously to concur with the 
church in the choice of Mr. Daniel Adams. He accept- 
ed the invitation, and was ordained on the 29th of 
April, 177l>. "In consideration of the extraordinary 
price of :he necessaries of life," he was to have £150 
in addition to his salary for the first year. A promise 
was also given him that such grants should be aiiade, 
from time to time, as the state of the medium, or 
other circumstances, might render Just and reasonable. 
At the ordination of Mr. Adams, I have been inform- 
ed, the sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Pren- 
tiss of Medfield, and the charge delivered by the Rev. 
Dr. Appleton of Cambridge. I have not learned who 
performed the other services of the occasion. 

In 1778 Watertown again became the seat of gov- 
ernment for a short time. The small-pox prevailed 
in Boston to such a degree, as to excite no little alarm ; 
and it was on that account (as appears by the State 
Records) that the House of Representatives request- 
ed the Council to grant them an adjournment. On 
the 30th of May, 1778, they wese accordingly adjourn- 
ed to meet on the next Tuesday, June 2d, at Water- 
town. There they assembled, and held the remain- 
der of the session. They resumed their session at 
Boston in September, 1778. 

The settlement of Mr, Adams was regarded by his 
people as an event of happy promise ; but their pleas- 
ant hopes were doomed soon to be struck down by 
the premature death of their pastor. In August fol- 
lowing his ordination he fell sick of the dysentery, 
which was then prevalent, and after a violent and 

* February J2th, 1776, the Selectmen " signed an order on the treas- 
urer to pay the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper £20 in part for his service in 
the work of the niinistrv in Watertown." 



109 

painful illness of about six weeks died, on Wednesday, 
the 16th of September, in the thirty-third year of his 
age. His ministry, consequently, was of less than 
half a year's duration. On the Saturday following his 
death, he was buried in the tomb of Mr. Capen, one 
of his parishioners, and his funeral sermon was preach- 
ed bv the Rev. Mr. Cushino; of VValtham. He was 
cut off in the morning of usefulness and of hope, and 
his valuable labors were remembered with a melan- 
choly and touching interest, for the brevity which 
God was pleased to assign to them. 

The Rev. Daniel Adams was the only son of Elisha 
Adams, Esq., of Medvvay, where he was born in Janu- 
ary, 1746. He was of the fifth generation from Hen- 
ry Adams, a Puritan emigrant, who came from Dev- 
onshire, England, about the year 1630, and settled in 
Braintree, now Quincy.* He was prepared for col- 
lege under the tuition of the Rev. Jonathan Town- 
send of Med field, and was graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1774. Being then of mature age, he imme- 
diately began the study of theology, which he pursu- 
ed, partly with the Rev. Mr. Bucknam of his native 
town, and partly with the Rev. Mr. Brown of Sher- 
burne. He was received, as a preacher, with gener- 
al and high approbation ; and about the time when he 
was called to VVatertown, he also had an invitation to 
settle at Princeton. Short as was his ct)nnexion 
with his people, he won their confidence and attach- 

* To the memory of this man, the late venerable and eminent John 

Adams, the second President of" the United States, who was one of his 
descendants, erected a monument in Quincy with an inscription. 
From this inscription the following- is an extract. "In memory of 
Henry Adams, who took his flight from the Dragon persecution, in 
Devonshire, England, and alighted with eight sons near Mount Wol- 
laston. One of the sons returned to England ; and, after taking some 
time to explore the country, four removed to Medfield and the neigh- 
bouring towns ; two to Chelmsford. One only, Joseph, who lies here at 
his left hand, remained here, who was an original proprietor in the 
township of Braintree, incorporated in 1639." See Farmer's Genea- 
logical Register. 



no 

ment in no common degree ; and those, who now re- 
member him, bear witness to the great respect, in 
whicli his services and character were held. Eis ear- 
ly death was deeply and sincerely lamented by his 
parishioners, and the kind attention, with which they 
had treated him, especially during his sickness, was 
continued to his family after his decease. His preach- 
ing is said to have been of the most edifying and im- 
pressive character. When the General Court, as be- 
fore mentioned, met in Watertovvn in 1778, Mr. Ad- 
ams was their chaplain ; and his fervor and pov\'er in 
discharging the duties of that station were long remem- 
bered, evincing the earnestness with which he enter- 
ed into the public interests of that anxious and trying 
period. His power as a singer was very remarkable; 
and it is related that at his funeral the choir of sing- 
ers, whom he had been accustomed to lead from the 
pulpit, were so much affected, that it was with great 
difficulty they could proceed in the performance of 
their part at the solemnity. He left a widow, and 
one son. Another son was born after the father's 
death. Both his children are now living.* During 
his short ministry, eight were baptized, and two ad- 
mitted to the church. I do not find, that any of his 
writings were published. 

The following obituary notice of Mr. Adams, which 
is believed to do no more than justice to his memory, 
appeared in Edes's Boston Gazette for September 
28th, 1778. 

" From Watertown we have the melancholy news 
of the death of the Rev. Daniel Adams, who, after a 
most distressing illness of six weeks, resigned his val- 
uable life into the hands of that God who gave it, 
with the most pious submission, in the 33d year of 
his age, after having been settled in the ministry only 

* One of these is Daniel Adams, Esq.,of Medfield, who has obliging- 
ly furnished mc with most of the abovementioned particulars respect- 
ing his father- 



Ill 

five months. He was the only son of Elisha Adams^ 
Esq., of Medway, who for a long time represented 
that town in the Great and General Coint. Those, 
who knew the deceased, knew his many virtues. His 
publick and private character were such, as did hon- 
our to mankind, to the holy religion he professed, and 
to the sacred order to which he belonged. From his 
first appearance, as a preacher, he was almost univer- 
sally admired. He never puzzled his own nor his 
hearers' minds with nice metaphysical disquisitions in 
polemick divinity, but preached and enforced, with 
peculiar enerj^y, the well known acknowledged pre- 
cepts of the New Testament, w ith such meekness and 
simplicity as became a disciple of the blessed Jesus. 
His genius for vocal musick was extraordinary ; and 
in that part of divine worship, his harmonious voice 
was heard from the sacred desk w ith a degree of rap- 
ture. The inexpressible grief of a fond wife, mourning 
the loss of a most agreeable partner ; the parental 
distress of elderly worthy parents, bemoaning the fate 
of their most engaging only son ; the undissembled 
sorrows of a whole town, lamenting the bereavement 
of their much respected pastor, demand a sympathet- 
ick tribute of sorrow from every humane and feeling 
heart. He has left a little son, too young to feel his 
irreparable loss. 

To him 'tis given to die : to us 'tis given 
To live! Alas, one moment sets us even. 
Mark ! how impartial is the will of Heaven." 

In November 1778, the town ordered an investigation 
to be made into the doings of the committee, who 
were chosen in 1755 to sell the old parsonage and the 
farm in Princeton, near Wachusett. The persons 
appointed to inquire into the affair made a report to 
the town in March, 1779, which was ordered to lie on 
file. This report I have not been able to find, and 
consequently cannot state the result. Whatever might 
have been the circumstances, which led to the inves- 



112 

ligation, no further discussion of the subject seems to 
have taken plare. At the last mentioned meeting, a 
committee was likewise chosen, to Join with some of 
the inhabitants of Newton in a |)etition to the Gener- 
al CoMit to annex them to Watertown. 

In conformity with a resolve of the General Court 
relating to a new Constitution of government fov the 
State, the town on the 24th of May, 1779, took the 
subject into consideration, and voted by a large ma- 
jority against having a new form of government at 
that time.* At the same meeting, the fishery was 
brou2;ht under discussion, and the town seem to have 
been in doubt what might be the nature and extent 
of their rights respecting it. Persons were appointed 
to inquire whether the town had power to let out the 
fishery ; if they had, it was to be leased for one year ; 
if not, the committee were to petition the General 
Court to grant the power in question, for the benefit 
of the town. From this notice, we may presume, 
that the fishery had not been let out before. It prob- 
ably began to be leased annually about the time when 
the inquiry, which has just been mentioned, was insti- 
tuted. 

The well known depreciation of the currency at this 
period was the cause of much embarrassment and 
alarm. The perplexity and distress occasioned by it are 
still fresh in the remembrance of many. On the 7th 
of July, 1779, a meeting was held in Watertown on the 
subject, and a committee appointed to take the mat- 
ter into consideration. They reported in favor of 
actin"- in accordance with the resolutions that had re- 
cently been passed in Boston, and of sending delegates 
to a Convention to be held at Concord, the next week, 
for the purpose of devising some means of relief. 

* A majority of the votes in the State were in favor of calling a Con- 
vention for this purpose. Delegates were accordingly chosen, and met 
the next September at Cambridge. See Bradford's Hist, of Mass. from 
1775 to 1789, p. 177 



113 

Other measures were recommended, and the report 
was accepted. After the meeting at Concord, prices 
were fixed by a committee, on all tlie most important 
articles of traffic, produce, labor, &c. ; and no depart- 
ure from these prices was to be allowed.* 

August 23d, 1779, the town appointed two persons 
to represent them in the Convention, which was to be 
held on the first of the ensuing September at Cam- 
brige, in order to frame a new constitution, or form 
of government. Subsequently, instructions were given 
to these delegates respecting their attendance at the 
Convention. At the same meeting, delegates were 
chosen to appear at a meeting to be summoned at 
Concord on the first Wednesday of the next October, 
in order to institute further regulations concerning the 
currency and the prices of articles. 

Since the death of the Rev. Mr. Adams, the care of 
supplying the pulpit had been entrusted to a commit- 
tee. Among those, whose services were procured at 
this time, were Mr. Laban Wheaton, who afterward 
studied the profession of law, and the now venerable 
Dr. Prince, the present senior pastor of the First 
Church in Salem, to whom the cause of science among 
us owes so much, and who is permitted to enjoy the 
bland and happy old age of the Christian scholar. On 
the 13tli of March, 1780, a meeting was called to 
make choice of a minister. Mr. Richard Rosewell 
Eliot, who had officiated in the pulpit during the win- 
ter, was unanimously chosen. As nothing is said of 
any concurrence between the church and society, as 
separate bodies, on this occasion, perhaps they acted 
together by one vote. Mr. Eliot, having signified his 
acceptance of the invitation, was ordained June 21st, 
1780. The Rev. Mr. Cushing of Walthara preach- 
ed the sermon on this occasion: the names of those, 
who performed the other services, are not remembered. 

* See Appendix K. 

15 



114 

it may give us some idea of the state of the currency^ 
at that time, to learn that the town appropriated 
£1600 to defray the expenses of the ordination. 

In April, 1781, the town agreed to establish a poor- 
house upon the south bank of the river, above the 
bridge. A building was purchased for this purpose, 
and a vote was passed to remove it to the place 
designated. It would seem that this was the first 
poor-house in the town. So long before as May, 
1761, it had been determined to erect a work-house : 
at that time, however, it was not effected; and when, 
in January, 1768, the proposal was renewed at a pub- 
lic meeting, it was rejected, and nothing more is said 
of any similar undertaking till the date above stated. 
At an adjournment of the same meeting, it was voted 
"That their representative be directed to use his 
endeavour in the General Court that the Tender Act, 
which was lately repealed, be revived so far as it con- 
cerns the Tender." The vote was taken by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the voters on each side were 
entered on the town records. 

Another attempt was made, in March, 1782, to 
have a part of Newton annexed to Watertown. A 
committee was appointed to confer with the people at 
Angier's Corner on the subject, and to join with them, 
and other inhabitants of Newton, in a petition for this 
purpose. Nothing appears to have been effected by 
this movement. 

In 1784, a notice occurs of a lottery granted in aid 
of a plan for enlarging the bridge ; and on the 20th 
of September, in that year, the town gave the follow- 
ing pledge : " Whereas the General Court have voted 
a lottery to enlarge the great bridge over Charles 
River 12 feet, — Voted, that we, the inhabitants of Wa- 
tertown, will engage to indemnify and save harmless 
our managers, and that they will agree to take on their 
own risque, their proportionable part of those tickets, 
that may remain unsold after the expiration of the 



115 

term of time that hath or may be allowed by the 
General Court ; provided the managers account with 
the town for the expenditure of the money raised by 
said lottery." The attempt to raise money in this 
way proved a failure; the tickets were not sold, and 
the lottery was given up. The matter lingered along 
till 1791, when the town chose a committee "to look 
into the affairs of the Watertown Bridge Lottery, and 
see what losses the managers have sustained " ; and 
soon after they appropriated money to compensate 
them for these losses, to redeem the tickets, and to pay 
the charges. 

On the 20th of September, 1784, the town voted 
*' to choose a committee to join with the several towns, 
who are desirous of petitioning the General Court for 
a repeal of a late act, empowering, or allowing, the 
town of Boston to exact a toll of persons that supply 
their market with the necessaries of life." This 
refers to " An Act for regulating the market in Bos- 
ton," passed February 18th, 1784, and repealed Feb- 
ruary 11th, 1785. The Act was opposed and com- 
plained of by many of the towns in the country.* In 
December following, Watertown appointed another 
committee " to apply, in behalf of the town, to the 
Corporation of Harvard College to lower the price for 
passing the ferry between the towns of Charlestown 
and Boston." 

Measures were adopted in town meeting, in 1792, 
to prevent the spread of the small-pox. Houses were 



* The Hon. Mr. Savage has furnished me with a copy of the follow- 
ing " order of notice " on this subject : 

" Tuesday, 9 Nov. 1784. Upon the petition of the agents of the towns 
of Roxbury, Braintree, Stoughton, Dedham, Newton, Weston, Brook- 
lin, Watertown, Needham, Lexington, and Walpole, — Ordered, that 
the petitioners serve the Selectmen of the town of Boston with an at- 
tested copy of this order by leaving the same with some one of the said 
Selectmen, 14 days at least before the next setting of the General 
Court, to appear on the 2d Wednesday of the said next setting of the 
General Court, to make answer to the said petition if they see cause." 

In the margin it is said, " Relative to the Market Act." 



116 

provided, to which persons infected with that disease 
by inoculation were to be removed ; and in case 
they refused to remove tliemselves, or their families, 
to the places thus designated by a committee, then the 
committee were directed to prosecute them, as offen- 
ders, at the expense of the town. 

The bridge over Charles River had been supported 
by the joint contributions of Watertown, Waltham, 
and Weston, the two hist mentioned towns having, 
from the time of their incorporation, borne iheir share 
in this expense. In 1797 and 1798, they both made 
an effort, by petitions to the Legislature, to be liber- 
ated from this burden. These ])etitions were ojiposed 
by the people of Watertown, who apj)ointed agents to 
meet and answer them before the General Court. 
The relief, which these towns claimed, seems not to 
have been obtained. But on the 2d of March, 1798, 
the General Court passed an Act, authorizing the 
inhabitants of Weston and Waltham, as well as of 
Watertown, to regulate the fishery "within the limits 
of the said towns " ; and the proceeds accruing from this 
source were to be divided among the three towns, 
according to the proportion which each town bore in 
the expenses of the bridge. This Act, which made 
the right in the fishery in each town a joint concern of 
the three towns, appears to have been considered by 
the people of Watertown as unjust and oppressive. 
At a meeting on the 20th of January, 1800, they voted 
"to appoint a committee to make serious enquiry 
into the constitutionality of the Act empowering Wes- 
ton and Waltham to lease the fishery in Watertown." 
This vote, however, they reconsidered ; and in March, 
of the same year, they proposed, through a committee, 
to Weston and Waltham, to refer the determination of 
the question respecting the constitutionality of the Act 
of March 2d, 1798, to the Judges of the Supreme 
Court, and to bind themselves to abide by the decision 
of the Judges. This proposal, it would seem, failed 



117 

of success ; for in May following, the same committee, 
who had been appointed in March, \Aere empowered 
and directed by Watertowii to bring an action against 
Weston or Waltham, which might be the means of 
pntting to test the constitutionality of the disputed 
Act. In August, however, the people of Watertown 
voted to make a proposition to Weston and Waltham 
for " a settlement or compromise respecting the bridge 
and fishery"; and the committee designated for this 
purpose were empowered, in March, 1801, to give to 
Weston and Waltham a complete and sufficient dis- 
charge for ever from any further expense in maintain- 
ing the bridge over Charles River, provided those 
towns would give up to Watertown all the privileges 
in the fishery, which were granted to them in common 
with Watertown by the Act of March, 1798. On the 
basis of these conditions a mutual agreement, or obli- 
gation, was drawn up with great formality and precis- 
ion, and signed by the agents of the three towns re- 
spectively. This agreement was read to the people of 
Watertown at a public meeting on the 15th of March, 
1802, when they voted to accept the contract, and 
place it on record. The dispute was thus adjusted 
satisfactorily to all parties, and their subsequent pro- 
ceedings were governed by this contract for several 
years. At length, by an Act of the General Court, 
dated Febri^iary 3d, 1816, the right in the fishery was 
secured and appropriated to Watertown within the 
limits of the town, and Weston and Waltham were 
discharged from any further cost or charge towards the 
support of the bridge over Charles River in Water- 
tovitn. This is the footing, on which the matter now 
stands. 

The manner in which the property in the pews had 
been disposed of when the meeting-house was finish- 
ed in 1755, proved the occasion of some difficulty, 
after the lapse of nearly fifty years. The pews had 
not been purchased by those who occupied them, but 



118 

had been assigned to the individuals by the town, 
according to the proportion each one had borne in 
the whole cost of the meeting-house. This mode of 
conveying the pews to the individual owners appears to 
have been vague and informal ; and in process of time 
cases occurred, which gave rise to the question, 
whether the property in the pews obtained in this way 
was of such a nature that it could be transmitted by 
inheritance, or whether it was limited to the lifetime 
of the original owner. The difficulty growing out of 
this question was probably before the town in May, 
1795, when they voted " to take council concerning 
the state of the pews in Watertown meeting-house." 
The committee chosen at that time were directed to 
consult Mr. Parsons and Mr. Dexter, and to obtain a 
written opinion from them on the subject. " Some 
other gentlemen at the bar " were likewise to be con- 
sulted. From some cause the business seems to have 
proceeded very slowly ; for it was not till March, 1799, 
that Mr. Parsons and Mr, Dexter communicated their 
written opinion, in which they said that the original 
manner of assigning the pews did not appear to them 
to have the forms " necessary in deeds to create an 
estate of inheritance," and that the votes of the town 
alone '^ could not be legally construed as giving an 
estate beyond the life of the grantee." In conse- 
quence of this opinion from such high sources, and in 
order to obviate all future uncertainty and difficulty, 
the town passed a vote, whereby they " give, grant, and 
confirm " to the original proprietors, and to their heirs 
and assignees for ever, the pews which they severally 
drew or held in the meeting-house, excepting tj^ose 
pews which had reverted to the town ; and these were 
in like manner confirmed to the individuals who had 
purchased them of the town, and to their heirs, &c. 
This vote was in April, 1800. 

In 1811, a proposal to build a new meeting-house 
for the town was under discussion. But the commit- 



119 

tee, to whom the subject was referred, reported 
against the project, and it was abandoned. 

The site of the United States' Arsenal in Water- 
town was selected early in 1816, by Major Talcot, 
who was stationed in the vicinity for the purpose of 
taking the charge of the establishment. In June of 
the same year, the State of Massachusetts ceded to 
the United States the jurisdiction usual in such cases 
over an extent of territory, which should not exceed 
sixty acres. The work was begun immediately after 
this cession ; and in 1820, the buildings were com- 
pleted. Mr. Alexander Parris of Boston was employ- 
ed as architect ; and the whole was finished under the 
superintendance of Major Talcot, the first commander 
of the post. At present, somewhat more than forty 
acres of land are in possession of the United States at 
this place. A new magazine has been erected during 
the last year. The two magazines are of stone, and 
of the best construction ; the other buildings are of 
brick. There are two large storehouses, two buil- 
dings for officers' quarters, two barracks, two work- 
shops, and a few other small buildings. They are 
placed on the four sides of a parallelogram, which face 
the cardinal points, the spaces between the buildings 
being filled by a wall fifteen feet in height. The 
area enclosed is about three hundred and fifty feet by 
two hundred and eighty feet. The magazines are 
placed at the distance of several hundred feet from 
the other buildings. This establishment is both a 
depot and an arsenal of construction.* 

In May, 1817, two hundred dollars were assessed, 
in addition to the usual tax, for the supply of the pulpit 
during the ill state of the Rev. Mr. Eliot's health. 

The name of Dr. Marshall Spring was so much and 
so long connected with public interests, both in his pro- 
fession and in civil affairs, that the notice of it may 

* These particulars respecting the Arsenal were communicated by 
]^^ajor Craig, the present much respected commander of the post. 



no 

with propriety belong to this narrative. He was born 
in Watertown, February 19th, 1741-2, was graduated 
at Harvard College in 1762, and died on the Uth of 
January, 1818, aged 76 years. After leaving college, 
he selected the profession of physic and surgery, to 
the study of which he devoted himself with assiduity. 
He resided for a short time at St. Eustatia, and then 
returned to Watertown, where he spent the remain- 
der of his life. He received great assistance from 
Dr. Josiah Converse, his maternal uncle, and after- 
ward inlieriled his property. Dr. Spring became one 
of the most distinguished physicians in the country ; 
and perhaps no one can be mentioned, in va hose judg- 
ment and skill a more unreserved confidence was 
placed. His practice was very extensive, and his 
house was the resort of great numbers of patients from 
the neighbouring and from distant towns. He was 
remarkable for a peculiar sagacity of mind, and for 
acute observation of human nature. These qualities 
influenced his medical practice, which is said to have 
been, in many respects, original, and so different from 
established modes as sometimes to draw upon him 
obloquy from his professional brethren. But the 
extraordinary success, which so often attended his 
mode of treating diseases, served to vindicate his judg- 
ment, and secured for him confidence. His strong 
good sense, and directness of mind, gave him a dis- 
gust for wiiatever savoured of })edantry, or of empty 
formality, in the profession. It was the fortune of 
Dr. Spring to be somewhat connected with political 
affairs. At the time of the Revolution, he was a 
decided tory, and thought the attempt of the colonies 
to gain independence entirely rash, and inexpedient. 
He despaired of success in an enterprise, wljich to 
the timid or prudent seemed so hopeless, and which 
even the sanguine acknowledged to be full of perilous 
uncertainty. He avowed his opinions on this subject 
so freely and fearlessly, that it is supposed he would 



121 

have been sent out of the country, under the law made 
for that purpose in 1776, had he not been too impor- 
tant, as a medical man, to be spared. In 1789 he 
was chosen a member of the Massachusetts Conven- 
tion on the question concerning the adoption of the 
Constitution of the United States. Dr. Spring was 
opposed to the Constitution, because he deemed it 
deficient in the principles necessary for strength and 
permanence. In the great political division of the 
country at the change of the administration in 1801, 
he took the side of the predominant party ; and when 
reminded, by a political opponent, of the inconsistency 
between this conduct and his former toryism, he 
replied that " the voice of the people was as much the 
voice of God now, as in 1776." He was, for several 
years, a member of the Executive Council of Massa- 
chusetts, and discharged his duties in that station with 
talent and fidelity. In the sharp encounter of wit, 
in the ready and pungent repartee of free conversation, 
Dr. Spring is said to have had very {'ew equals. He 
was highly respected and beloved till his death, by a 
numerous circle of friends and associates ; and many 
there are, who will never forget the benevolence of 
his character, the playful amenity of his temper, and 
the charm which he spread over social intercourse.* 

The Rev. Richard Rose well Eliot died on the 21st of 
October, 1818, aged 66 years, and in the 39th year of 
his ministry. His funeral sermon was preached by 
the Rev. Dr. Stearns of Lincoln. He was born at 
New Haven, Con., October 8th, 1752, and descended 
in a direct line from the Rev. John Eliot, the memora- 
ble Apostle to the Indians, whose name and whose 
praise will never die in the ecclesiastical history 
of New England. Mr. Eliot was fitted for college 
under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. Frost of Men- 
don, and was graduated at Cambridge in 1774, being 

* A more ample account of Dr. Spring may be found in Dr. Thaeh» 
er's American Medical Biography, Vol. II. p. 98. 

16 



122 

a classmate of Mr. Adams, his predecessor in the min- 
istry. After leaving college, he taught a school at 
Woodstock, Con,, and at the same time pursued the 
study of divinity under the direction of the Kev. Mr. 
Leonard of that place. In 1779, he vv^as appointed 
a tutor in Harvard College, and held that office at the 
time when he received and accepted the call to settle 
in Watertown. He then attracted much attention as 
an orator, and is said to have been surpassed by few in 
the gifts and graces of good speaking, a power which the 
infirm state of his health, and other causes, withheld 
him from cultivating in the subsequent part of his life. 
Mr. Eliot's theological views were liberal and enlarged. 
For the harsh and stern features, which are some- 
times portrayed as belonging to the countenance of 
religion, he had no partiality. He dwelt with peculiar 
pleasure on the benevolence and the paternal charac- 
ter of the Deity, and considered divine truth as present- 
ing, in all its aspects, winning encouragement no less 
than awful solemnity. Metaphysical and ethical sub- 
jects were among his favorite studies ; and in these, 
he is said sometimes to have displayed no inconsider- 
able acuteness and discrimination. His preaching 
was judicious, evangelical, and for the most part prac- 
tical ; and if his manner generally failed to be inter- 
esting or impressive, it should be remembered that the 
very feeble condition of his health precluded, in a great 
degree, that energy of delivery, which to most hearers 
is necessary to render even truth attractive. The 
style, in which his sermons were written, was per- 
spicuous, easy, and pure, marked by the good taste of 
tlie school of Addison, and free from false ornaments 
and from the artifices of composition. His mind was 
active, and his feelings occasionally ardent, notwith- 
standing the depressing influence of a wasted bodily 
frame ; and he was peculiarly disposed to interest 
himself in mechanical inventions, and in certain plans 
of improvement. His life might almost be regarded 



123 

as one long disease ; and when we consider with what 
a leaden weight constant illness hangs upon the spirit, 
how it paralyzes resolution, and wears away drop by 
drop, as it were, the interests which men take in the 
scenes and engagements of life, can we wonder, or cau 
we find no apology, if he did not accomplish so much, 
or labor with so effectual force, as those may, to whom 
God grants the blessings of a sound constitution and 
good health ? His virtues and his piety were of a 
retiring, quiet character ; his disposition was kind and 
amiable ; and he was a man of sincere and honest 
heart. He treated with respect and fairness the feel- 
ings of others, and he bore suffering and disappoint- 
ment with the submission of a Christian. Mr. Eliot 
was reluctant to commit any of his productions to the 
press. His published writings, accordingly, are few, 
but are very respectable compositions, both in manner 
and matter. They are the following : " A Discourse 
delivered at Athol at the Consecration of a Lodge, 
Oct. 13, 1803." '^ A Discourse delivered at Dedham, 
at the Consecration of Constellation Lodge, Oct. 19th, 
1803." '' Two Sermons preached at Watertown, 
Sept. 30th, and Oct. 7th, 1810," from Acts, ii. 47: 
" Two Sermons preached at Watertown, Sept. 22d, 
1816," from Deuteronomy xxxii. 47. In the third 
of these is presented a very lucid and judicious view 
of the nature of a Christian church, and of the char- 
acter which appertains to the ordinance of the Supper. 
From the last, published about two years before his 
death, is taken the following extract, which is honor- 
able to the feelings of his heart, as a minister : " When 
I look round on the people of my charge, and view 
them as pilgrims on their passage to a state of recom- 
pense and retribution, when I consider that during 
the space of more tiian thirty-six years I have been 
with them, in all seasons and in innumerable vicissi- 
tudes, have shared in their griefs, sorrows, and adver- 
sities, and have experienced their kind attention and 



124 

affectionate aids, when I have been called to pass 
through the furnace of afflictions, — when I consider 
how many of my parishioners have already been Joined 
to the congregation of the dead, how soon those who 
have been brought up under my ministry and who still 
continue among the living, must pass into the invisi- 
ble and eternal world, how soon my ministerial labors 
must come to a close, and how soon I shall be requir- 
ed, by an impartial and unerring Judge, to give an 
account of my stewardship, my feelings are unuttera- 
ble ! " 

There are recorded by Mr. Eliot, during his minis- 
try, 497 baptisms and 118 received to the church.* 

After the death of Mr. Eliot the pulpit was supplied 
by various candidates for the ministry. On the 12th 
of April, 1819, the town voted to invite the writer of 
this narrative to settle with them in the Gospel minis- 
try, the church having previously, on the 31 st of 
March, made a nomination to that effect. The invita- 
tion was accepted, and the ordination took place on 
the 23d of June, 1819. The introductory prayer was 
offered by the Rev. Dr. Lowell of Boston; the Rev. 
Dr. Osgood of Medford preached the sermon, from 
1 Timothy, i. I6.t The Rev. Dr. Kirkland, President 
of Harvard College, offered the ordaining prayer ; 
the Rev. Dr. Ripley of Concord delivered the charge ; 
the Rev. Mr. Palfrey of Boston gave the right hand 
of fellowship ; and the Rev. Mr. Ripley of Waltham 
offered the concluding prayer. 

In the summer of 1819, the meeting-house was 
enlarged by an addition of 16 feet in width. This 
enlargement afforded space for the erection of 16 new 
pews on the lower floor. The alteration was made 



* The body of Mr. Eliot was deposited in the tomb of John Richard- 
son, Esq. His widow still resides in Watertovvn. 

tThis sermon was printed at the request of the society, and was the 
last production published by the venerable and eloquent preacher. He 
died December 12th, 1^22. 



125 

by persons, who entered into a contract for the pur- 
pose with a committee appointed by the town. 

The meeting-house erected in Watertovvn by the 
Watertown and Newton Universalist society was 
dedicated on the 13th of August, 1827. On the same 
day the Rev. Russell Streeter was installed as pastor. 
The church was publicly recognised July 23d, 1828. 
The connexion of the Rev. Mr. Streeter with the 
society was dissolved in 1829; and on the 13th of 
May, 1830, the Rev. William S. Balch, their present 
pastor, was installed. 

On the I9ih of August, 1830, the meeting-house 
erected by a Bnptist society in Watertown was dedi- 
cated, and the Rev. Peter Chase was installed as their 
pastor. A church was formed at the same time. 

On the 17th of September, 1830, the inhabitants of 
Watertown commemorated the completion of the sec- 
ond century from the settlement of the town. An 
address was delivered by the Congregational Minister, 
at the request of the Selectmen ; and religious ser- 
vices, adapted to the occasion, were performed by the 
Rev. Mr. Ripley of Waltham, and the Rev. Mr. 
Balch and the Rev. Mr. Chase of Watertown. 

The humble narrative, which has now been brought 
to a close,* may suggest considerations of some practi- 
cal importance. The history of a town is indeed but 
a small item on the broad records of man's doings, — so 
small, that many will regard the interest taken in it as 
mere antiquarian trifling. But it is not without its 
use, at least to those who live on the spot, to which 
the narrative belongs. Our towns are the minute sec- 
tions of a great community, each of which has an influ- 
ence and an interest, however inconsiderable, in the 
welfare of the whole. They are the nurseries of the 
state, sending forth a continual supply of members to 
act and to be acted upon, amidst the complicated trans- 

* See Appendix L. 



126 

actions and improvements of the country. These little 
subdivisions are the elementary parts of that mighty 
and unwieldy mass, which we call the nation ; and in 
proi)ortion as the parts are made sound and pure, the 
whole receives a firmer and more healthy character. 
In our community and under our institutions, this is pe- 
culiarly true. So free and numerous are the channels 
of intercourse through a body politic, in which men 
have equal rights, that scarcely the most inconsiderable 
fragment of society can be said to stand alone. The 
village has a bearing on the nation, and the nation on 
the village. The inhabitants of every town, therefore, 
should feel that they have relations to sustain, and du- 
ties to perform, of no unimportant nature. The sacred 
interests of knowledge, of rational freedom, and of re- 
ligion, they should cherish with the deepest solicitude 
of which the heart of man is capable. They should 
never forget, that upon the members of every family, 
upon the inmates of every home, lies a solemn respon- 
sibleness to their country and to God, — that the domes- 
tic establishment is a seminary, which sends forth its 
pupils through the land, and the influence of which, in 
extent and duration, can scarcely be measured. 

The care of education is a precious trust, for which 
our towns, each and all, are accountable. While they 
maintain a watchful concern in the cause of knowledge, 
they are doing good not only to themselves, but to the 
whole land. A power is thus put in operation, which 
seeks out and draws forth the talents of every portion 
of the community, which reaches forth a helping hand 
to the minds marked by God for usefulness and dis- 
tinction, and calls them to the service of society ; and 
by doing this from generation to generation, perpetu- 
ates a race of vigorous and enlightened guardians of 
good institutions. It is this, which fans into a bright 
and beautiful flame the spark of intellect, that might 
otherwise be smothered, or burn dimly, in secret pla- 
ces. It is this,which spreads far and wide that enlight- 



127 

ened energy of character, upon which must ever rest 
the strong defence of the high interests of humanity. 
The memorable example of our fathers, in this respect, 
is worthy of all praise. Scarcely had they felled the 
forest sufficiently to prepare room for their poor and 
scattered dwellings, when they turned their thoughts 
anxiously to the care of education. In the midst of 
distress and danger, when, it might be supposed, they 
had enough to do in procuring bread to eat and in de- 
fending themselves from the savages, they laid the 
foundation of our venerable University and of schools, 
the blessings of which are now a rich part of our in- 
heritance. The means of learning took root among the 
deep foundations of the republic, and grew and flour- 
ished with it. We may not forget, that they belong 
essentially, not to its ornament only, but to its welfare, 
and that they cannot be slighted without peril to all 
we hold most dear. 

It should be remembered, however, that higher in- 
terests than those of knowledge are committed, as an 
inestimable deposit, to every town among us ; I mean 
the interests of morals and religion. Here, too, the 
state has a claim upon all its parts ; for religion belongs 
to the community, and blesses the community. They 
make but a defective estimate, who treat it merely as 
a concern between the individual and his God. It is 
this ; but it is likewise more than this. It is a matter 
between the members of society, as such, a matter in 
which they have a strong mutual interest. Religion 
goes beyond the breast of the individual and beyond the 
family circle. It travels through society, and scat- 
ters blessings as it goes ; it gives security to rights, 
to property, and to enjoyments ; it controls if it does 
not extinguish the passions from which spring encroach- 
ment and oppression ; it acts upon the whole while 
it acts upon the parts, and spreads the broad wing 
of its love over the community at large, as well 
as over your own dwelling. Such views of its agen- 



128 

cy are too often excluded, or their importance un- 
derrated, by the narrowness of sectarian feeling, or in 
the eagerness of party triumph. The subject ivas not 
reo-arded thus by our ancestors. They considered re- 
ligion as the best friend and ally of their civil institu- 
tions, as the sanctiiier and the protector of whatever 
they valued most highly in their political privileges. 
And they judged rightly. We surely want something 
to penetrate the whole mass of society, and operate as 
a restraint upon that pestilent ambition, which aims 
only at self-aggrandizement, and, so it can but build a 
triumphal arch to its own glory, cares not how abject 
and miserable are the crowds that gaze upon it. We 
want something that will give a solemn sanction to 
sound and wholesome laws, and to the sacred institu- 
tions of order and justice. We want something, that 
will prevent passion or selfishness from sweeping away 
the landmarks of venerable principles, that will not 
suffer licentiousness, under the abused name of free- 
dom, to confound the essential distinctions, which God 
has instituted in the very nature of human society. 
The power, that will do all this, is to be found only in 
moral and religious influence, an influence guarded and 
guided so wisely, that it shall surround us like the air we 
breathe, vitally important, and felt not by its pressure, 
but by its refreshing and beneficial agency. None of 
the shackles, imposed by creeds, or by the spirit of a 
party, can supply the place of this great moral power. 
The" people of every village should feel the solemn ob- 
ligation of cherishing this guardian of their best posses- 
sions, and at the same time they should remember, that 
the spirit, miscalled religion, which kindles the wild- 
fire of strife and fanaticism from town to town, is as 
far from resembling the beneficent agency of true Chris- 
tianity, as the burning fever is from resembling the 
healthful and natural action of the functions of the body. 
The principles, which have been stated, are the es- 
sential sources of all the good we can wish for our 



129 



country. These are the support of the privileges and 
institutions, which make our country worthy of our 
love. They are inseparably associated with the mem- 
ory of our fathers, who through successive generations 
watched with pious care over the church of Christ, and 
kept a sleepless eye fixed on the blessings of freedom. 
Whatever there is of honest fame, or of virtuous ex- 
citement, in their sufferings and deeds ; whatever their 
example affords, to which the nations of the earth 
point, as to a source of instruction and a beacon of hope ; 
whatever is registered of their high enterprise, their 
noble daring, their firm endurance ; all these become 
the nutriment of a consecrated patriotism, when they 
are regarded as the expression of strong devotedness to 
the cause of knowledge, of truth, and of piety. It is 
thus that the feeling becomes a hallowed one, which 
connects us with the men of former days, — men who 
have left the impression of their wisdom and valor on 
their own age, and on succeeding ages, who set forth 
and defended principles, the power of which is now felt 
in every fibre of the community, and who, in times 
when the hearts of multitudes quaked within them for 
fear, looked unmoved on danger and death, resting on 
a sublime sense of duty, and on the arm of Almighty 
God. 

In the same elevated spirit the Christian citizen can 
look forward to the future. His blessings rise to a 
higher value, and glow with a richer beauty, when he 
can hope that they will be transmitted to his children's 
children, encompassed and strengthened by the helps 
of knowledge and piety. His regard to the public 
welfare thus acquires something of the nature of pa- 
rental affection, blending with its serious and perhaps 
stern expression the mildness of that feeling, which 
looks with fond care to coming generations. We 
should love our country, as Christians and as enlight- 
ened men. We should show this love, not by hating 
and reviling other nations, not by idle vaporing and 
17 



130 

swelling boasts, not by plunging with mad zeal into 
the conflicts of party ; remembering that if it* be truly 
said, 

Faction will freedom, like its shade, pursue, 
Yet, like the shadow, proves the substance true, 

it is also the fearful lesson of history, that faction is of- 
ten the assassin, as well as the companion, of liberty. 
We must manifest a love for our native land in other 
and better ways, — by cleaving fast to principles and in- 
stitutions established by the labors of the wise, and 
sanctified by the prayers of the pious, and by such a 
use of our gifts and privileges, that those who. are to 
come after us, may have as much good and as little 
evil to tell of us, as we have to tell of our ancestors. 
We must remember, that the good man is the best 
patriot ; that fidelity in the use of our extraordinary 
blessings will teach us most effectually how to prize 
and to preserve the fair inheritance transmitted from 
the Fathers of New England. 



APPENDIX* 



(A, page 12.) 

The Following is a list of the names, with the quantity of land 
assi.'^ned to each, in a " grant of the Plouiands at Beverbroke 
Plafnes, devided and lotted out by the Freemen to all the 
Townesmen then inhabiting, being 106 in number." — February 
28, 1636. 



Acres 

George Phillips, pastor, forty, 
V John Whitney, 
p^ Thomas Hastings^ 

Richard Woodward, 

Robert Betts. 

John Grigs, 

John Simson, 

Charles Chadwick, 

Robert Veazy, 

Henry Goldstone, 

John Smith, Sen., 

John Tomson, 

John Eddy, 

William Bassum, 

Benjamin Crispe, 

Edmund Sherman, 

William Bridges, 

Gregory Taylor, 

John Coolige, 

Daniel Patrick, 

Joseph Mosse, 

Ephraim Child, 

Robert Lockwood, 

Francis Onge, 

John Gay, 

Simon Eire, 



ten. 

two. 

six. 

one. 

one. 

four. 

three. 

one. 

seven. 

four. 

two. 

nine. 

three. 

three. 

six. 

five. 

five. 

five. 

fourteen. 

two. 

sixteen. 

six. 

six. 

five. 

eighteen. 



Sir Richard Saltonstall thirty 

Nathaniel Baker, 

John Richardson, 

George Munnings, 

Henry Bright, 

Nicholls Knapp, 

Richard Sawtle, 

John Ellett, 



five. 

three. 

four. 

three. 

six. 

one. 

four. 



Francis Smith, 
Jolin Eaton, 
John Loveran, 
William Jennison, 
John Page, 
Samuel Hosier, 
John Winkell, 
John Goffe, 
Nathaniel Bowman, 
Brian Pembleton, 
Richard Browne, 
John Lawrence, 
John Tucker, 
Thomas Cakebrecl, 
Robert Tuck, 
Henry Cuttris, 
Richard Kemball, 
John Barnard, 
Edward Dikes, 
Thomas Brookes, 
Timothy Hawkins, 
Gregory Stone, 
James Cutter, 
John Cutting, 
Daniel Perse, 
Barnaby Windes, 
John Kingsberry, 
Robert Feke, 
Isaac Stone, 
Thomas Smith. 
John Rose, 
Miles Nutt, 
John Hayward, 
Thomas Filbrick, 



Acres. 

eight. 

six. 

tv/enly. 

ten. 

thirteen. 

five. 

three. 

four. 

seven. 

twelve. 

nine. 

three, 

three, m^ 

eight. 

five. 

one. 

twelve. 

ten. 

three. 

four. 

two. 

ten. 

three. 

ten. 

one. 

six. 

six. 

twenty-four. 

eleven. 

two. 

three. 

three. 

seven. 

nine. ' 



132 



Simon Stone, 


fourteen. 


John Smith, Jun., 


Robert Daniel, 


eight. 


Roger Willington, 


Isaac Mixer, 


four. 


Christopher Grant, 


Edward How, 


twenty-four. 


John Nichols, 


Henry Donnffiyne, 


one. 


John Dwight, 


Tliomas Maihew, 


thirty. 


Foster Pickram, 


John Stowars, 


two. 


.John Springe, 


Richard Beere, 


two. 


John Warner, 


Edmund James, 


five. 


Emanuel White, 


John Firmin, 


nine. -.^ 


Edward Garfield, 


John Warrin, 


thirteen; 


William Gutterig, 


Joliri Batcheler, 


six. 


Hniili Mason, 


William Knop, 


seven. 


Thomas Roffers, 


Henry Kemball, 


six. 


Thomas Bartlett, 


William Palmer, 


one. 


John Doggett, 


Edmund Lewis, 


five. 


Lawrence Waters, 


John Finch, 


four. 


Martin Underwood, 


William Swift, 


five. 


William Paine, 


John Winter, 


three. 


Garrett Church, 


Edward Lam, 


three. 


Abram Shaw, 



on6> 

two. 

three, 

four. 

sevett. 

five. 

six. 

seven. 

three. 

seven. 

three. 

three. 

five. 

two. 

six. 

four. 

two. 

twenty-four. 

two. 

ten. 



Thoiish the numbei' is staled to be 106, it will be found, on 



counting, to be 108. 



(Brpage 13.) 

The confusion on this question arises from the apparently 
contradictory testimonies of the old writers, and from the vague 
character of some of their expressions. Dr. Kendal, in the body 
of his Century Discourse, considers the church in VVatertown as 
the sixth in age, among the Massachusetts churches ; but in a 
note of some length, the fruit of subsequent researches, he as- 
signs to it an earlier date, and is disposed even to regard it as 
second only to that at Salem. In tliis last estimate he is, hoW* 
ever, undoubtedly in an error. The mistakes of Johnson, (Won- 
der-working Providence,) in his arrangement of the churches, 
are now generally acknowledged ; and if his testimony be set 
aside, as it probably should be, the o|)inions which others have built 
on his authority as to this point, must fall with it. Mather (Mag- 
nal. B. III. ch. 4.) says tiiat the Rev. Mr. Phillips and the other 
settlers of Watertown, on the 30th of July, 1630, " upon a day set 
apart for solemn fasting and prayer, the very next month after 
they came ashore, entered into this holy covenant." He then 
subjoins the covenant at length, and adds, that "about forty men 
then subscribed this instrument in order unto their coalescence 
into a church-estate." The day here designated Was that, which 
Governor Winthrop had appropriated for fasting and prayer on ac- 



133 

count of the prevalent sickness, and on which Winthrop, Dudley, 
Johnson, and Wilson " first entered into church covenant, and 
laid the foundation of the churches both of Clmrlestown and 
afterwards of Boston." {Prince, p. 310, &c.) ii\t the same 
lime Sir Richard Saltonstall, and others of the settlement at Wa- 
tertown, subscribed a covenant. Mather's statement, as to the 
origin of the Watertown church, would seem to be explicit and 
decisive of the question. But, in a note at the end of Dr. Ken^ 
dal's Discourse, Dr. Holmes, to whose faithful and valuable la- 
bors on the early history of this country high praise is due, has 
endeavoured to show that the transaction to which INlather's ac- 
count relates, was not the actual formation of a church, but mere- 
ly an exercise preparatory to that act. His reasoning certainly 
deserves much consideration, and is stated with fairness and 
strength. Yet it does not seem to me entirely satisfactory and 
convincing. Although, as he reir)arks, the fast on the 30th of Ju- 
ly related not primarily to ecclesiastical matters, but to the 
prevalent sickness, yet the strong expressions used by the wri- 
ters, from whom we have the account, certainly seem to imply 
nothing less than the actual formation of churches. According to 
Prince, it was considered an important object in keeping the fast, 
" that such godly persons among them, as know each other, may 
publicly at the end of their exercise make known their desire, 
and practise the same by solemnly entering into covenant with 
God to walk in his ways," &c. ; and though their society con- 
sisted of very few, they promised, " after to receive in such by 
confession of faith, as shall appear to be fitly qualified." This 
last engagement implies, that they intended from that day to be 
regarded as an organized church, prepared to receive others into 
their number. Morton, in relating the same transaction, tells us, 
that their purpose was to seek " for direction and guidance in 
the solemn enterprize of entering into church fellowship." [JVew 
EnglancVs Memorial. Davis's ed. p. 159.) Language like this 
appears decisively to describe the formation of churches ; and if 
it were not intended to do so, it is unguarded and ambiguous. 
Mather introduces his account by remarking, that " they [Mr. 
Phillips and others of the Watertown settlers] resolved that they 
would combine into a church feUoivship there as their first work," 
&€. ; and when he remarks, that " in after time they, that join- 
ed unto the church, subscribed a form of the covenant some- 
what altered, with a confession of faith annexed unto it," this re- 
fers, I conceiv^e, not to a subsequent process of forming a church, 
but merely to some modifications in their covenant, introduced 
perhaps to make it more explicit and safisfactory. There is, 
however, another account given by Mather, which is inconsistent 



134 

with his own statement, above quoted, as to the state of the Water- 
town church. He places (Book I. ch. 5.) the churches at Charles- 
town, Dorchester. Boston, Roxbury, and Lynn, before that at 
Watertown, in the order of time. 1 know not how this inconsistency 
is to be explained, but by supposing that Mather, in the arrange- 
ment of the churches just referred to, followed, without examina- 
tion, some erroneous authority. We seem warranted to infer 
that in the account, which assigns the Watertown church to July 
30, 1630, he was more likely to be correct, because, in that ac- 
count, a specific date is given for the transaction, connected with 
the well-attested fact of the fast which was observed on that day ; 
whereas, in the other account, a merely general statement is 
made of one church following another, without any date assigned 
to either, except the Charlestown church. On the whole, I 
cannot but conclude, that the true date of the formation of the 
Watertown ciiurch is July 30, 1630, O. S. With regard to the 
relative positions of the first churches in Massachusetts, in the order 
of time, information may be found in Dr. Ker)dal's Century Dis- 
course, p. 19 ; Mass. Hist. Collections, 2d Series. Vol. I. pp. 9, 
25 ; and Savage's note on Winthrop, V^ol. I. p. 94. 

The covenant mentioned above as recorded by Mather, into 
which Mr. Phillips and others entered, and which was the foun- 
dation of this ancient church of our fathers, is so remarkable for 
its hearty piety, and its entire freedom from a sectarian spirit, 
that 1 have thought proper to insert it in this connexion. It is 
as follows : 

''July SO, 1630. 
" We, whose names are hereto subscribed, having, through 
God's mercy, escaped out of the pollutions of the world, and been 
taken into the society of his people, with all thankfulness do here- 
by, both with heart and hand, acknowledge that his gracious good- 
ness and fatherly care towards us; and, for further and more full 
declaration thereof to the present and future ages, have under- 
taken (for the promoting of his glory, and the church's good, and 
the honour of our blessed Jesus, in our more full and free sub- 
jecting of ourselves and ours under his gracious government, in the 
practice of and obedience unto all his holy ordinances and orders, 
which he hath pleased to prescribe and impose upon us) a long 
and hazardous voyage from east to west, from Old England in 
Europe, to New England in America ; that we may walk before 
him, and serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all 
the days of our lives : and being safely arrived here, and thus 
far onwards peaceably preserved by his special providence, that 
we may bring forth our intentions into actions, and perfect our 



135 

resolutions in the ibeginnings of some just and meet executions, 
we have separated the day above written from all other services, 
and dedicated it wholly to the Lord in divine employments, for 
a day of afflicting our souls, and humbling ourselves before the 
Lord, to seek him, and at his hands- a way to walk in, by 
fasting and prayer, that we might know what was good in his 
sight ; and the Lord was entreated of us. For in the end of that 
day, after the finishing of our publick duties, we do all, before 
we depart, solemnly, and with all our hearts, personally, man by 
man, for ourselves and ours, (charging them before Christ and his 
elect angels, even them that are not here with us this day, or are 
yet unborn, that they keep the promise unblameably and faith- 
fully, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus,) promise, and enter 
into a sure covenant with the Lord our God, and, before him, 
with one another, by oath and serious protestation made, to re- 
nounce all idolatry and superstition, will-worship, all humane tra- 
ditions and inventions whatsoever in the worship of God ; and 
forsaking all evil ways, do give ourselves wholly unto the Lord 
Jesus, to do him faithful service, observing and keeping all his 
statutes, commands, and ordinances, in all matters concerning 
our reformation, his worship, administrations, ministry, and gov- 
ernment, and in the carriage of ourselves among ourselves and 
one towards another, as he hath prescribed in his holy word. 
Further swearing to cleave unto that alone, and the true sense and 
meaning thereof to the utmost of our power, as unto the most 
clear light, and infallible rule, and all-sufficient canon, in all things 
that concern us in this our way. In witness of all, we do ex 
animo and in the presence of God hereto set our names or 
marks, in the day and year above written." 



(C, page 17.) 

The following is the letter alluded to, taken from the Mass. 
Hist. Coll. 2d Series, vol. iv. p. 171. 

" Reverend and deare friends, whom 1 unfaynedly love and re- 
spect. It doth not a little grieve my spirit to heare what sadd 
things are reported daily of your tyranny and persecutions in 
New England, as that you fyne, whip, and imprison men for 
their consciences. First you compel such to come into your 
assemblies, as you know will not joyne with you in your worship, 
and when they shew their dislike thereof or witness against it, 
then you styrre up your magistrates to punish them for such 
(as you conceyve) their publick affronts. Truly, friends, this 



136 

your practice of compellina; any in matters of worship to doe 
that whereof they are not fully persuaded is to make them sin^ 
for soe the apostle (Rom. 14 and 23] tells us, and many are 
made hypocrites thereby, conforming in their outward man for 
feare of punishment. We pray for you and wish you prosperitie 
every way, hoped the Lord would have given you so nmch light 
and love there, that you might have been eyes to God's people 
here, and not to practice those courses in a wilderness, which 
you went so farre to prevent. These rigid wayes have layed 
you very lowe in the hearts of the saynts. I doe assure you I 
have heard them pray in tlie publique assemblies, that the Lord 
would give you meeke and humble spirits, not to stryve so much 
for uniformity, as to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
peace. 

" When I was in Holland about the beginning of the warres, I 
remember some christians there, that then had serious thoughts 
of planting in New England, desired me to write to the governor 
thereof to know if those that differ from you in opinion, yet hold- 
ing the same foundation in religion, as Anabaptists, Seekers, An- 
tinomians, and the like, might be permitted to live among you 5 
to which I received this short answer from your then governor, 
Mr. Dudley, God forbid (said he) our love for the truth should 
be grown so could, that we should tolerate errours ; and when 
(for satisfaction of myself and others) I desired to know your 
grounds, he referred me to the books written here between the 
Presbyterians and Independents, which if that had been sufficient, 
I needed not have sent soe farre to understand the reasons of 
your practice. I hope you do not assume to yourselves infallibil- 
itie of judgment, when the most learned of the apostles confes- 
seth he knew but in parte and saw but darkely as through a 
glass. Oh that all those who are brethren, though yet they can- 
not thinke and speake the same things, might be of one accord in 
the Lord. Now the God of padence and consolation grant you 
to he thus minded towards one another, after die example of Je- 
sus Christ our blessed Savyor, in whose everlasting armes of pro-» 
tection he leaves you who will never leave to be 

Your truly and much affectionate friend 
in the nearest union 

RIC : SALTONSTALU 
For my Reverend and worthyly 
much esteemed friends, Mr. Cot- 
ton and Mr. Wilson, preachers to 
the church which is at Boston in 
New-England," 



137 



(D, page 32.) 

It is proper here to advert to the use which has been made of 
the case of Briscoe, in a pamphlet entitled " Vindication of the 
Rights of the Churches of Christ," published at Boston, 1S28. 
The writer considers the statement of Winthrop and Hubbard in 
this instance as furnishing decisive evidence, that the churches 
(taking the word in its limited sense, as signifying only the com- 
municants,) were regarded as bodies politic, and exercised the 
power of levying a tax for the support of their pastors. It is not 
necessary here to go into an examination of this position. The 
arguments, by which the writer attempts to sustain it, have been 
most satisfactorily refuted in a very able Review of the pamphlet, 
published in the " Christian Examiner," for 1828, vol. v. p. 500, 
&,c. I will only remark, that the writer of the " Vindication " seems 
to have mistaken the object of Briscoe's complaint, which was 
against the tax itself, not against the power by which it was im- 
posed. The support of the ministers had before been drawn 
from voluntary contributions ; and when a tax was introduced 
compelling every man to pay his proportion for this purpose, Bris- 
coe found fauli with the change, as an offensive and injurious in- 
novation. This was the object of his opposition, which therefore 
furnishes no evidence in favor of the abovementioned position, 
since the power of the church to raise money was not the point 
in debate. It is true that Winthrop, and Hubbard who merely 
copies Winthi'op, speak of Briscoe as being grieved because he 
and others were taxed, when they " were no members.'''' Much 
stress is laid on this expression to show that the church, distinc- 
tively so called, possessed and exercised the power in question. 
But the expression, in all probability, was used concerning a re- 
lation to the religious society, as such, in Watertown, not to the 
body of the connnunicants exclusively. When the tax was in- 
troduced, and payment demanded by the proper authorities of 
the town, it is probable that Briscoe and others, in the warmth of 
their resentment, separated themselves from their former connex- 
ion, and declared they would have nothing to do with the support 
of the ministry or of public worship. They therefore considered 
themselves as " no members," and were angry because the tax 
was still required of them. It is an extreme jealousy of taxation, 
and not resistance to a power exercised by the church, which 
appears in Briscoe's case. The town records show decisively, 
that the appropriations for the support of the ministry were made 
by the town, as such, not by the church, as a distinct body. The 
tax for this purpose in 1642 (the very year in question) was or- 
18 



138 

dered at a town meeting, in which other town affairs were trans- 
acted, such as choosing Selectmen, appointing persons to pack 
and sell leather, he. ; and, in 1648, "at a general towne meet- 
ing, the towne granted to Paster Knovvles and Paster Sherman 
120 pounds for the yeare following, to be equally divided be- 
tween them ; the said sum to be raised by rate made by the sev- 
en men " (meaning die Selectmen). There is nowhere in the 
records an intin)alion of the church, peculiarly so called, pretend- 
ing to hold or exercise the power of raising money by tax for the 
support of their pastors. On the contrary, this is uniformly men- 
tionedas the town's affair, and disposed of among other town 
business. 



(E, page 50.) 

The body of the Rev. Mr. Sherman was deposited in the old 
burying-ground in Watertown, and a plain monument raised over 
it, which, having fallen into decay, was rebuilt in 1821. His epi- 
taph is said by the Rev. John Bailey, in a book of records kept 
by him, to have been written by INlr. Willard, doubtless the Rev. 
Samuel Willard, pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, who 
was married to a daughter of Mr. Sherman. It is as follows : — 

Johannis Shermanni maxima pietatis, gravitatis, et candoris viri, 

in theologia plurimum versati : 

in concionando vere Clnysostomi : 

in Artibus liberalibus pra^cipue Mathematicis incomparabilis : 

Aquitaraensis ecclesiae in Nov. Anglia fidelissimi pastoris: 

Collegii Harvardini inspectoris et socii : 

Qui postquam annis plus minus xlv Christo fuit 'T-xn^trnt * 

in ecclesia fidus 

Morte matura transmigravit, 

et a Christo palma decoratus est, 

A. D. MDCLxxxv Augusti, 

^tatis suai lxxii : 

Memorise. 

Mather, at the close of his account of Sherman, has bestowed 



* Immediately afler this word Mr. Bailey, who transcribed this epi- 
taph into his manuscript book, has inserted in a parenthesis the follow- 
ing comment ; " i. e. one of the underrowers that steer the ship to- 
wards the haven." In thus explaining this Greek word according to 
its derivation, rather than in its common and ohvious sense, he has 
made it present to the mind a metaphor somewhat striking and pleasing. 



139 

upon him the following epitaph, borrowed, with the alteration of 
the name, from its application to another person : 

Ut Pauli Pietas, sic Euclidea Mathesis, 
Uno Shermanni conditur in Tumulo. 

It may not be improper to insert here an epitaph on the Rev. 
Jonathan IMitchell of Cambridge, written, as I suppose, by the 
Rev. Mr. Sherman. I am induced to think it to be from his 
hand, because Hubbard (p. 600) ascribes it to " a neighbour 
minister," and because it is subscribed with the initials J. S. If 
it be Sherman's, it may lead us to fear that his philosophy and 
mathematics had not altogether fitted him for a poet ; although, 
if compared with the sepulchral inscriptions in verse which were 
common at that period, it will certainly appear very respectable. 

Here lies the darling of his time, 
Mitchell, expired in his prime, 
Who, four years short of forty-seven, 
Was found full ripe, and pluck'd for heaven; 
Was full of prudent zeal, and love, 
Faith, patience, wisdom from above ; 
New England's stay, next age's story, 
The churches' gem, the college glory. 
Angels may spevk him, ah ! not I, 
(Whose worth's above hyperbole,) 
But for our loss, were 't in my power, 
I 'd weep an everlasting shower. 



(F, page 58.) 

When Mr. John Bailey came from Ireland to New England, 
he brought a manuscript book, to which I have already had oc- 
casion to refer. In this book he kept a record of all the com- 
munions of his church, first in Limerick, beginning June, 1679, 
and then in Watertovvn, in regular order till he left the town. In 
these records are occasionally found some interesting particulars. 
The following notice, while he was in Ireland, is worthy of being 
transcribed. "The 44th Sacrament was upon the 11th of Oct., 
1683, in the evening, at Mr. Wilkins. It 's now too long a story e 
to tell all the particular reasons why we had not one sooner ; 
many have been the exercises, tryals, vexations, we have met 
with since July the 1st. There hath a plott broken out 
since then that hath occasioned a world of trouble, and some 
have suffered, as Russell, Esse^, Capt. Wolcott, &lc., and others 



140 

are like to suffer ; it hath made the papists proud, he, but God 
\\nll, in his own time, discover the worke of darkness ; I say na 
more of it. We were shutt out of the Abby by the locking of 
the gates, and it 's sad to think we shall never come more into 
our old place of worship. Then I was advised by the Bisiiops 
not to preach ; I promised to forbeare a while because of such 
a criticall juncture of time ; after 3 Sabbaths I began again, he. 
and so the Bishop with the broad seall of his court certified to 
the Mayor, who is very unwilling to do any thing against me, 
that I did preach such a day, and so required the Act of Unifor- 
mity to be putt in force against me in 3 monthes imprisonment. 
1 was sent for before the ]Mayor, Recorder, and other justices, to 
whom I opened my mind fully : the Recorder was for imprison- 
ment, but the Mayor was not only willing to forgive what was 
past, but not to putt me on promising to forbeare for the future 
(for he knew I would not promise it), but to warne me for the 
future, telling me what to look for if I do so any more. So that 
now in a sort the very neck of our liberty is broken, for there is 
little likelihood of doing any thing in private. This is the sad- 
dest day I have seen ; all their former wayes have hitherto been 
abortive, nothing fledged till this. The Lord is performing the 
thing appointed for me, and yet what this may come to I know 
not; but there is just ground of fear, because all things every 
where goe down the wind." Again he writes : — " The 46th 
Sacrament was on Jan. 13, 1684, in the morning, at Mr. W's. 
1 was at one of clock to preach in the Irish town ; but I have 
now nothing to say to this day's worke, for I was imprisoned in 
the afternoon, and so I suppose it may be the last Sacrament I 
may give ; many things were said at the Table, which I now 
being under confinem.ent forbear to repeate," he. The next 
record, Oct. 6ih, 1686, speaks of his arrival in New England, 
and of his being " set apart for the church in Walertown." From 
this time notices follow, in a regular series, of all the communions 
of the church in Watertown while he was with them. He gives 
the heads of his sermons and remarks on these occasions, and is 
so pardcular as to notice the weather, and other minute circum- 
stances. He speaks frequently of the communion being attended 
by great numbers of people from the neighbouring and even distant 
towns. At one time, he says, they were " so many, that they put 
us hard to it to get elements sufficient." 

Mr. Bailey seems to have used this book as a depository for 
his notes about his private matters, as well as ecclesiastical affairs. 
It contains the epitaphs upon his wife, who died and was buried 
in Watertown, and upon his brother Thomas. They were writ- 



141 

ten by Mr. Moody, probably the Rev. Joshua Moody, of the 
First Church in Boston, and are as follows : 

Pious Lydia, made and given by God, 
as a most meet help to John Bailey, 

Minister of the Gospel. 

Good betimes, — Best at last, 

Lived by faith, — Died in grace. 

Went off singing, — Left us vireeping, 

Walked with God till translated in the 39th yeare 

of her age, April 16, 1691. 

Read her epitaph in Prov. xxxi. 10, 11, 12, 28, 29, 30, 31. 



Here lyes the precious dust of Thomas Bailey 
A painful preacher 1 f A most desirable neighbour 
An exemplary liver | A pleasant companion 

A tender husband I J A common good 

A careful father | j A cheerful doer 

A brother for adversity | 1 A patient sufferer 
A faithful friend J [ Lived much in little time. 

A good copy for all Survivors. 
Aged 35 years. 
He slept in Jesus the 21. of January 1688. 

Among the curious medley contained in this book are some 
memoranda of Mr. Bailey's expenses; and at the end of one of 
these accounts he exclaims, " I '11 proceed no further, it.'s enough 
to make a man mad to take notice of dayly expenses," &c. 

The following entry among his marriage records is worthy of 
notice. " There was by the General Assembly, sitting in Oc- 
tober or Noveniber, 1G92, an order made for Ministers marryin^^,, 
as well as Justices of the peace, which hath encouraged me to 
do it at the importunity of friends," &ic. Hutchinson says that, 
among our ancestors, " there was no instance of marriage by a 
clergyman, during their charter ; but it was always done by a 
magistrate, or by persons specially appointed for that purpose, 
who were confined to particular towns or districts. Jf a minister 
happened to be present, he was desired to pray." Vol. i. p. 392. 

It may be well to take notice here, that in a blank leaf of Mr. 
Bailey's book, " Man's Chief End to Glorifie God," &c., pre- 
sented to the Massachusetts Historical Society, there is the fol- 
lowing memorandum respecting his descendants : " Now living 
of his offspring, in Boston, two great-grand-children, namely, 
Sarah Belknap and Abigail Willis, and three great-great-grand- 
children, namely, Charles Willis, Jr., Nathaniel Willis, and Abi- 
gail Willis. May 28, 1771." 



142 



(G, page 60.) 

This report as then presented, respecting both the ministry and 
the meeting-house, stands in the town records as follows : 

" Whereas in a general Town IMeeting of the inhabitants of 
Watertown, upon the 27th of December last past, it was voted 
that matters of difference relating to the settling of a minister and 
the placing of the Meeting-house, should be left to the determina- 
tion of a committee, to be chosen by the Governor and Council : 
And whereas upon the application of Mr. William Bond and 
Lieut. Benjamin Garfield, tlie Governor and Council were pleas- 
ed to nominate us the subscribers to be a committee for the ends 
aforesaid : We do advise and determine, that forasmuch as you 
have once and again called the Rev. Mv. Henry Gibbs to labour 
in the Lord's vineyard at Watertown, which he has so far accepted 
as to spend some years with you, in which time yourselves and 
others have had plentiful experience of his ability and real worth, 
that therefore you do your endeavour that he may speedyly be 
fixed among you in the work and office of the ministry. 

*' And W'hereas there has been of a long time, even ever since 
the dayes of your blessed pastor Phillips, an earnest contending 
about the place of meeting for the publick worship of God, hav- 
ing heard and duly weighed the allegations of both parties in your 
publick meeting, and considering the remoteness of the most of 
your inhabitants from the place where the meeting-house now 
stands, our advice and determination in that matter is, that with- 
in the space of four years next coming there be a meeting-liouse 
erected in your town on a knowl of ground lying between the 
house of the widow Sterns and Whitney's hill,* to be the place of 
meeting to worship God for the whole town. And if in the mean 
time, the minister see cause to dwell in the house where the 
Rev. Mr. John Bayly dwell'd, the town pay rent to tlie proprie- 
tors, as hath been accustomed since its building. So praying 
God to unite your hearts in his fear, we take leave, who are your 
truly loving friends and brethren. 

Ti TIT lo i^HQ William Stoughton. 

Boston, May 18, 1693. j^^^ Phillips. 

To our Brethren and James Russell. 

Neighbours of Watertown. Samuel Sewall. 

Joseph Lynde." 



* The spot thus described by the committee was in one of the an 
gles now formed by the intersection of two roads near the houses of 
Mr. Charles Whitney and Mr. Joel Pierce, — a place sometimes called 
the Four Corners. It is now remembered in the town, that a meeting' 
house was said to have once stood there. 



143 



(H, page 66.) 

By the order of the Court in 1700, it ^vould seem, all the In- 
habitants of the town (except the " the Farmers ") were required 
to choose which of the two places of worship they would support, 
and then sign their names to an obligation for that purpose. Tiie 
names of those, who subscribed for the support of the old meeting- 
house, were as follows : 

J. Hammond, Senr. N. Wyeth. 



R. Norcross. 

S. Stone. 

N. Barsham. 

J. Stratten, Senr. 

N. Coolidge, Senr. 

N. Bright. 

J. Mason. 

P. Wellington. 

W. Bond. 

T. Bond. 

J. Beers. 

J. Eddy, Senr. 

J. Train. 

J. Bond. 

W. Shattuck. 

S. Jennison. 

J. Stratten, Junr. 

R. Goddard. 



J. Goddard. 
H. Spring. 
N. Fiske. 
T. Train. 
R. Coolidge. 
D. Benjamin. 
D. Smith. 

D. Fiske. 

E. Goddard. 
R. Beers. 
A. Benjamin. 
J. Coolidge. 
J. Dix, Senr. 
G. Lawrence. 
D. Church. 
T. Whitney. 
S. Hastings. 



J. Bacon. 

J. Childs. 

J. Stone. 

J. Holdin 

C. Grant. 

S. Randall. 

Jno. Stone. 

S. Stratton 

C. Coolidge 

J. Eddy, Junr. 

M. Sawing. 

J. Grant. 
J. Treadaway. 
T. Coolidge. 
W. Shattuck. 
J. Haddock. 
E. Whitney. 
Eliz. Bond. 



The names of those, who subscribed for worship at the new 
meeting-house, were as follows : 

J. Warren, Senr. Jno. Mars, Junr. 
J. Brown. 
T. Phillips 
James Barnard 
S. Phillips. 
G. Beal. 



S. Cook, Senr. 
J. Mars, Senr. 
J. Barnard, Senr 
H. Clark, Senr. 
S. Paris. 
C. Church. 
E. Cutter, Senr. 
S. Cook. 
Jra. Mars. 



B. Whitney. 

N. Sterns. 

J. Wellington Senr. 
for his land in Wa- 
ter town. 

D, Harrinsiton. 



J. Warren, the Cap- B. Garfield. 

tain's son. Justice Phillips. 

R. Bloss. A. Gale. 



144 



(f, page 77.) 

1 have been informed, that the monument* now standing 
over the ashes of Mr. Gibbs and his wife, was erected by the 
Rev. Dr. Appleton of Cambridge, who, as lias been already said, 
was married to their daughter. If this be true, it is probable 
that the following epitaphs, inscribed on the monument, were 
written by him. 

Hie 

Depositae sunt roliquise viri 

vere venerandi 

Henrici Gibbs, Ecclesiae Christi 

apud Aquitonienses Pastoris 

vigilantissiini, 

Pietate fulgente, eniditione non 

mediocri, gravitate singulari 

spectatissimi : 

Peritia in divinis, prudentia in humanis, 

accuratione in concionibus, copia in precibus, 

prsecellentis : 

Qui per serumnas vitaa doloresque mortis 

requiem tandem invenit. 

die Octobris 21- Anno Domini mdccxxiii. 

^tatis suae lvi. 



Hie 

Etiam deponitur corpus Mercy Gibbs 

Conjugis suss dilectissimae, 

Quae expiravit in Domino 24 Januariis 

Anno Domini mdccxvi. 

iEtatis suae xli. 



(K, page 113.) 

It tTiay be interesting to some to present, somewhat more in 
detail, the doings of the town on this subject. The report men- 
tioned in the narrative, after a long preamble, recommended the 
following resolves : 

"1st. That we highly approve of the late resolutions of the 
merchants of the town of Boston, and elsewhere in this State, 
and also of the doings of the said town of Boston, and their pro- 
posal for callng a Convention at Concord, in the County of Mid- 
dlesex, on the 14th day of this inst. July, for the purpose of de- 

* Tliis, and the monument erected to Thomas Baily, and to John 
Bailey's wife, were repaired and put in order in 1821. 



145 

vising ways and means for lowering the prices of all the necessary 
articles of life, both foreign and domestick, and for the effectually 
appreciating our currency. 2dly. That the town will, by their 
committee, meet at Concord on the J 4th of July inst. for the pur- 
pose aforesaid. 3dly. That, in order to co-operate forthwith with 
the merchants in their glorious attempt for the lowering the pri- 
ces of every necessary of life, it is resolved, ihat the produce of 
our respective farms shall not advance in price in the least degree 
from what they now are, upon condition the late resolution of the 
merchants respecting foreign articles shall continue : but the 
same shall lower in the same proportion as foreign articles do, — 
and that we will use our utmost exertions that the several mechan- 
icks in this town lower in like proportion ; and in order that this 
vote be carried into complete execution, voted 4thly, That a com- 
mittee of seven be chosen, whose business it shall be to ascer- 
tain, as nearly as may be, the prices of foreign and domestick ar- 
ticles, and to determine what propordon they ought in equity to 
bear each to the other, and publish their doings monthly, and 
cause the same to be posted up at the meeting-house and other 
places of publick resort in the town, which shall regulate the 
prices of all the articles mentioned in said notification for the time 
therein specified : And if any person or persons shall be so lost 
to all sense of honour, love of their country, or their own interest, 
as to violate in the least degree the true intent and meaning of 
this resolution, by selling their produce at a higher price than 
established by said committee from time to time, said person or 
persons so offending shall be deemed enemies to their country, 
and cryed as such by the town-clerk, for six months after, at ev- 
ery publick meeting of the town : — this resolution to hold good 
and valid until the State at large shall have adopted some perma- 
nant mode of regulating the same. Sthly. That the Selectmen 
be directed, without loss of time, to transmit copies of the pro- 
ceedings of this meeting to the towns of Newton and Waltham, 
praying them to adopt some such method, in order that we may 
be mutually assisting in the only feasible way possible, that we 
can think of, for the appreciating our currency, and thereby- 
rendering our independency sure, and securing to us and our 
posterity peace, liberty, and safety." 

On the 26th of July, 1779, the resolves passed in the Conven- 
tion at Concord were accepted and approved by VVatertown, and 
a committee was appointed " to regulate and setde the prices of- 
such articles as may be thought proper." This committee soon 
after reported a list of prices for articles, in addition to those 
agreed upon at Concord. " Hay and milk in Boston market " 
19 



146 



were exempted from the regulation. The following is the list of 
prices, as given in the town records 

" For the Innholders : — a dinner 18s. — horse-keeping per 
night 17s. — oats per pottle 5s. — punch per bowl 30s. — 
W. Ind. flip per mug 12s. — yoke of oxen per night at English 
hay 18s. 

Tanner. 
sole leather per lb. . . 20s. 
curried calf-skins, single, 
equal to 6 lbs. sole leather. 



Labour. 
a man per day, find himself COs. 
a man per day, and found 40s. 

Teaming. 

per mile, not exceeding 90 
miles out, per ton . 18s. 

man and team per day, find- 
ing themselves . £5. 10s. 

man and team, found, per day £4. 

Shoemaker. 
men's best shoes per pair £G. 00 
women's best do. " 4. 10s. 

Tailor. 
making a man's best worked 
coat .... £8. 
do. do. waistcoat 4. 

do. do. breeches 4. 

Weaver. 

for weaving 7-8 cotton and 

linen cloth per yard 6s. 3d. 

do. yard wide tow . 6s. 3d. 

5-4 all wool . . .9s. 

Blacksmith. 
narrow axe . . £7. 10s. 
shoeing a horse round 

with refined iron and 

steel . . £5.00 

shoeing oxen in the same 

manner . . . £10. 00 

Mechanics. 
per day, finding themselves 728. 
do. and found . 52s. 

Saddler. 
best saddle compleat . £70. 
beet curbed bridle . £12. 



best sinsle-reined do. 



£6. 



6d. 



Leather-dresser. 
best sheep's wool per lb. 22s 
best wnsh'd leather dress- 
ed sheep-skins, single 56s. 3d 



Boating from Boston. 
per boat-load . £18. J 5s. 
per hogshead . . 25s. 

per barrell . • 7s. 6d. 



shaving 



Barber. 



Hatter. 
best beaver hat 
best felt hat 



33. 



£40. 
£4. 



Joiner. 

common mahogany desk £ 20. 

do. round top case drawers £130. 

do. four foot table . £ 27. 



Currier. 
currying calf-skins 
do. a hide 

Tallow- Chandler. 
candles per lb. 
hard soap per lb. 
soap per barrell 

PoHer. 
quart mugs per doz. 
do. single 

Butcher. 
raw hides per lb. . 
best tallow per lb. 

flax per lb. 
milk per quart 
oats per bushel 
barley per bushel 
malt per bushel 



249. 
£4. 

18s. 

10s. 

£15. 



50s. 
5s. 



3s. 
. 9s. 

. 12s. 
. 2s. 

. 48s. 
£4. 103. 
£4. lOs. 



147 

Horse-hire per mile 5s. Chaise-hire per mile 5s. All arti- 
cles of European manufactures at the same rates, that shall be 
affixed to them by the town of Boston." 

A committee was likewise chosen to carry into effectual 
and rigid execution the proceedings of the Convention at Con- 
cord. 



(L, page 125.) 

It may not be without use to subjoin to our annals a brief ac- 
count of the town, as it is at the present time. 

Watertown is Gi miles from Boston, and is bounded on the 
north by West Cambridge, on the east by Cambridge, on the 
south by Charles River and by Newton, and on the west by Wal- 
tham. It is pleasantly situated on Charles River, which in its beau- 
tiful windings decorates the scenery, at the same time that it con- 
fers more substantial advantages. In extent of territory, Water- 
town is one of the smallest towns ;n Massachusetts, containing 
only 3S33y''^ acres, including land and water, as will appear 
from the following result of a survey taken by Mr. John G. 
Hales of Boston : 

Half of Charles River, length 375 chains, 

by 2 chains wide _ _ _ 75 acres. 

Part of Fresh Pond - . - - 58-j.\ 
Small stream and Mill-pond - - - 3 

136A 



Amount of land, including roads he. 3697 J^ 



Whole contents within the lines - 3833/^^ 

The soil of Watertown is in general remarkably good. A 
portion of the southeastern extremity of the town is sandy, poor, 
and barren ; but, with this exception, the land is among the best 
and most productive in the Commonwealth. The soil consists, 
for the most part, of black loam, having a substratum of hard 
earth, so that it suffers but little comparatively from drought in 
summer. There is very little wood-land in the town, nearly all 



148 

the soil being cleared and cultivated. A large proportion of the 
inhabitants, comprising nearly all those who occupy the north 
part of the town, are employed in agriculture, and their farms 
are under very good cultivation. The usual productions of the 
villages in the vicinity of Boston are found here in abundance, 
and a large supply is furnisbed for the market of the city. There 
are a few country seats, beautifully situated, and in a state of 
high and iinprovecl cultivation. 

A brand) of business, which has been of considerable impor- 
tance in Watertown, is the fishery of CIrarles River. It is annu- 
ally let out by the town for the highest sum that can be obtained. 
Several years ago, it produced a revenue of between 600 and 
800 dollars a year ; now it is much less profitable, being com- 
monly let out for 250 or 300 dollars a year. The shad fishery 
is die only one of much value ; and tlie number of that kind of 
fish taken in the river is considerably less, than it was 40 or 50 
years since. If we go further back, the contrast is still greater. 
Wood, describing Watertown about 150 years ago, speaks of 
" the great store of shads and alewives," and then says, that " the 
inhabitants in two tides have gotten one hundred thousand of 
these fishes." JVew EnglaniVs Prospect, p. 46.* 

There are two paper-mills in the town ; at one of them, only 
brown paper is made ; at the other, besides brown paper they 
make printing paper, candle paper, glass paper, Sic. Each of 
these mills manufactures, on an average, 150 reams per week. 
There are also two manufactories of cloth. " The Watertown 
Woollen Factory Company " has an establishment near the bridge ; 
this manufactures broadcloths and cassimeres, employs from 30 
to 35 hands, and turns out about 250 yards per week. " The 
Bemis Manufacturing Conipany" (incorporated in 1S27) has a 
much larger establishment about a mile above the bridge ; this 
consists of two factories, a Woollen Factory, which manufactures 
about 2500 yards of satinet per week, and a Cotton Factory, 
which spins and warps for satinets, and makes about 2000 bolts 
of cotten duck per annum. 

The town has four public schools. Two of these are kept 
the whole year, one by a male teacher, the other by a female. 
The other two are taught by masters in the winter, and by fe- 
male teachers in the summer. The number of children in all these 
schools is, on an average, about 240. There is one flourishing 

f After some litigation, the profits of the fishery are now divided be- 
tween Watertown and Brighton, the proportion of seven tenths to the 
former and three tenths to the latter town. 



149 



private school in the town ; and there are two or three, at which 
reading and spelling are taught to little children. In December, 
1829, a Lyceum was established, at a meeting of the inhabitants 
called for that purpose, and a course of lectures was given, which 
lasted till the end of April ; by a regulation of the society, the lec- 
tures or other exercises are to continue for six months from the 
1st of November, being suspended during the summer months. 
Connected with the Lyceum, is a scientific and miscellaneous li- 
brary; there are two libraries besides this, one a Religious Li- 
brary, the other a Juvenile Library, to which all the children in 
the town have access. 

There are three meeting-houses within the limits of the town ; 
one for Congregationalists, one for Universalisls, and one for 
Baptists. 

The number of inhabitants has not increased so rapidly in Wa- 
tertown, as in niany other places. There has been, however, a 
gradual increase. The following statements exhibit, I believe, 
the most complete account that can be had of the population of 
Watertown at different periods. All these, except the census 
taken the present year, were collected and furnished to me by 
the Rev. Dr. Freeman, Senior Pastor of King's Chapel, Boston, 
a name which cannot be mentioned without the remembrance of 
highly valued services in the cause of pure and rational religion, 
and of an old age ripe in wisdom and in Christian virtue. 



Number of Negro Slaves in 1754 
of sixteen years and upwards : 
Males .... 7 

Females .... 5 

12 

See Coll. of Mass. Hist. Soc. 2d 
Series, vol. III. p. 95. 

Census ordered in 1763 and taken 

in 1764. 
No. of houses 103 

No. of families . . .117 

No. of males under 16 . 172 

No. of females under 16 . 136 

No. of males above 16 . 179 

No. of females above 16 . 195 

No. of negroes • . 11 

Whole number of souls 693 

Census taken March, 1776. 
No. of whites . . 1057 



Census of 1777. 
No. of males of 16 and up- 
wards . . . 185 
Strangers .... 21 
Blacks .... I 

Valuatio7i of 1778. 
No. of Pells ... 210 

Valuation of 1781. 
No of Polls . . .222 

Census of 1783. 
No. of whites . . 771 

No. of blacks ... 9 

Number of souls 780 

Valuation of 1784 



No. of Polls 

Supported by the town . 

Census of 1790. 
No. of families 



256 
3 



164 



160 



Free white males, of 16 and 

upwards . . . 319 

do. under 10 . • 250 

Free wliite females . .511 

All other free persons . 11 

Total 1091 



Census of 1800. 

Free white males under 10 
years 
do. of 10 and under 16 
do. of 16 and under 26 . 
do. of 26 and under 45 . 
do of 45 and upwards 
Free white females under 10 
years .... 
do. of 10 and under 16 
do. of 16 and under 26 
do. of 26 and under 45 
do. of 45 and upwards 
Other free persons, except In- 
dians not taxed. 



184 

96 

133 

113 

87 

196 

83 

101 

116 

93 



Total 1207 



Census of 1810. 

Free white males under 10 
years 
do. of 10 and under 16 . 
do. of 16 and under 26 . 
do. of 26 and under 45 
do. of 45 and upwards 
Free white females under 10 
years 
do. of 10 and under 16 . 
do. of 16 and under 26 . 
do. of 26 and under 45 . 
do. of 45 and upwards . 
Other free persons, except 
Indians not taxed 



199 

96 

236 

166 

91 

190 
129 
176 
145 
94 

9 



Total 1531 

Census of 1820. 

Free white males under 10 

years of age . . 213 

do. of 10 and under 16 . 102 

do. of 16 and under 26 . 178 

do. of 26 and under 45 . 192 

do. of 45 and upwards . 98 



Free white females under 

10 years . 166 

do. of 10 and under 16 . 116 

do. of 16 and under 26 . 177 

do. of 26 and under 45 . 165 

do. of 45 and upwards . 102 

Foreigners not naturalized 57 

Persons engaged in agri- 
culture . 145 

Persons engaged in com- 
merce . . 13 

Persons engaged in manu- 
factures . 179 

Free colored males under 

14 years . . 

do. of 14 and under 26 , 1 

do. of 26 and under 45 . 2 

do. of 45 and upwards . 2 

Free colored females un- 
der 14 years . 1 
do. of 14 and under 26 . 2 
do. of 26 and under 45 . 1 
do. of 45 and upwards . 



Total 1518 



Census of 1830. 
Number of males under 5 



years 
do. between 5 
do. between 10 
do. between 15 
do. between 20 
do. between 30 
do. between 40 
do. between 50 
do. between 60 
do. between 70 



and 10 
and 15 
and 20 
and 30 
and 40 
and 50 
and 60 
and 70 
and 80 



Number of females under 5 



years 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 
do. between 



5 and 10 
10 and 15 
15 and 20 
20 and 30 
30 and 40 
40 and 50 
50 and 60 
60 and 70 
70 and 80 
80 and 90 
90 & 100 



101 
94 
75 
86 
216 
100 
64 
35 
25 
15 



100 

100 

80 

98 

177 

111 

52 

50 

35 

14 

3 

1 



151 



Number of colored males 

under 10 years . 3 

do between 24 and 36 . 1 

do. between 36 and 55 . 1 



Number of colored fe- 
males under JO years . 2 
do. between JO and 24 . 3 
do. between 24 and 30 1 

Total 1643 



In addition to the above statements of population, it should be 
mentioned, that, in the book of church records kept by the Rev. 
Mr. Angier, and mentioned in the course of the preceding narrative, 
there is found the following notice, viz., " 1 80 families in VVatertovvn 
in April, 1733." This seems a much larger number of families, 
than might be expected at so early a period ; but it should be 
remembered, that this was before Waltham was separated from 
Watertown, and that consequently the families in botli towns were 
included in the estimate. 

Within a few years two ncnv roads from Watertown to Boston 
have been constructed and opened. One runs to Cambridge 
Port and West Boston Bridge, and was finished in 1824, but not 
opened till 1825. The other furnishes a passage to Boston over 
the Western Avenue, or the Mill Dam (as it is sometimes called), 
and was finished and opened in 1824. The latter road takes 
nearly the same direction with one, which many years ago was 
projected by the Rev. Mr. Eliot and others, but which at that 
time failed of being accomplished, from unfavorable circumstan- 
ces, or because the plan was premature. Almost all the travel 
through and from Watertown to Boston is now performed on 
these new roads, the old road through Cambridge being much 
less used than formerly. 

Until a recent period, it was the custom to support the 
town's poor by placing them at board, wherever the cheapest 
terms could be obtained ; but within a few years, buildings have 
been purchased in the town for an almshouse, to which is annex- 
ed a farm of good land. All the poor supported by the town are 
now placed there. The establishment is under the care of over- 
seers appointed by the town, and is well and carefully regulated. 



END. 



